


Not So Secret, Secret

by WolfGangSBD



Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Bands (BanG Dream!), College AU, Comfort, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, F/F, Fluff, HELLA BROMANCE, Humor, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, all the ships except sayolisa and akorinko are mentioned so far, its gonna be wholesome, once again dont look at the title im really bad with them, past sayochisa, roselia lives in the same house
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:53:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 29,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23510374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfGangSBD/pseuds/WolfGangSBD
Summary: Lisa and Yukina have been friends since forever. So when the two need to find a new place to stay for their third year of college, it goes without saying that they'll live together.In order to make living costs cheaper, the two try to find others who will live with them. Lisa reaches out to Ako and Rinko, and the couple quickly agrees. On the other hand, Yukina is (surprisingly) able to make contact with one of her own friends. Lisa hasn't met her yet, but she's sure she will be able to become fast friends with her.Until she meets her in person, that is.
Relationships: Hikawa Hina/Maruyama Aya, Hikawa Sayo/Imai Lisa, Minato Yukina/Mitake Ran, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Seta Kaoru/Shirasagi Chisato, Shirokane Rinko/Udagawa Ako, Wakamiya Eve/Yamato Maya
Comments: 97
Kudos: 239





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi, i will try to update this weekly. i apologize in advance for any grammar mistakes. i hope yall enjoy~
> 
> ok fr tho bandori baited me, i bought stars thinking i might have to hit pity for limited sayo and then I GOT HER IN THE NEXT PULL its like the game knows. but that still doesnt change the fact i spent 32,500 stars on dream fest lol
> 
> i hope yall enjoyed this! hm, i might update the next chapter soon since this is more of an introduction chapter. but anyways, let me know what you guys think so far, i know theres not a lot of content yet but dont hesitate to comment~
> 
> also i edited the notes bc if i add notes at the end of each chapter, it adds them on the most recent chapter lol

Lisa huffs as she sets down another box in the living room. When she sees a small towel come into view, she smiles gratefully, straightening her posture as she takes the offered cloth and lightly dabs some sweat off.

"Thanks Yukina~." Lisa wraps the towel around her neck and Yukina simply nods. "I'll wash it later and give it back to you."

Yukina goes back to unpacking the items from the boxes Lisa set down earlier. "Of course. You need it more than I do."

True to Yukina's words, Lisa is the one doing most of the lifting. Yukina herself is astonishingly weak, but she still helps out by moving some of the lighter boxes and organizing their things. 

The two are alone since they are far from their hometown. The thought scared Lisa to death during her first year, but she's gotten used to it. It helps that her best friend is by her side to support her and that she's met all sorts of amusing people who make college life bearable.

"Geez, Yukina. If only you could carry heavy objects~." Lisa teases, laughing when Yukina scowls.

"My body is not built for such exertion." Yukina grumbles and Lisa giggles. 

It's true though. Yukina has both the grip strength and actual strength of a middle school kid.

Lisa stretches and sighs in satisfaction when she cracks her back. "If only the others were here to help out." Lisa comments and Yukina hums in agreement. 

Moving in is always difficult and any help is much appreciated. However, their future roommates are either still packing up or busy with work, and the two didn't want to pay extra money for professional labor. Their other friends are also busy at the moment, but some said they'll be able to help out the next day. It's a good thing their past, more expensive apartment isn't too far from their new home, making the transportation of their things easier.

"At least we can be here to help them out." Lisa points out but stops for a moment. Yukina raises an eyebrow at her pause but squints her eyes at Lisa when she smiles playfully. "Well, _I'll_ be here to help them out."

Yukina lightly swats at a giggling Lisa, a small blush painting her face. "Rude. I was the one who found this place." Yukina states with a slight frown. Lisa nudges her shoulder with hers.

"I know~, I know~. Just a little bit of teasing," Lisa replies, faltering for a moment before continuing with a smirk, "Yukinya~!"

She shrieks when Yukina starts to chase her around. She laughs as she runs back and forth from the living room to the kitchen, playfully taunting Yukina with the nickname she knows she hates. The chase doesn't last very long due to Yukina's terrible endurance.

"It's, it's not over yet." Yukina huffs as she tries to catch her breath and Lisa laughs.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night~."

It is in this very moment where Lisa is struck with the realization that she will be able to have more moments like this. Not only with Yukina, but also with Ako and Rinko. And there's also…

Lisa and Yukina call a truce so they can get back to work. Lisa hums a random melody as she thinks about the only housemate she's not familiar with. She's never heard of Yukina's friend before, but that's expected since Yukina doesn't really talk much about, well, anything other than how annoying her classes are. It also doesn't help that she and Yukina are in different majors, making it hard to spend time together. Some say that it's a miracle the two have stuck by each other's side for so long, but Lisa knows it's the opposite.

Lisa and Yukina have been friends for forever. She was there for Yukina when she was at her lowest, and Yukina was there for her when she hit rock bottom. Their bond is unbreakable. It's practically law.

As Lisa continues to help Yukina unpack and organize the things they brought back for the house, she thinks about her future, about all the fun, new memories they are going to make. She thinks about Ako and Rinko, the adorable gamer couple she met during her second year, about all the times she would hang out with them only to cry with laughter at Ako's antics. She thinks about Yukina's mysterious friend, the ridiculously polite yet serious person she has never heard of before.

Despite her efforts to focus on her current task, Lisa finds her mind drifting towards that stranger and why she seems familiar despite never meeting her.

_'Hikawa Sayo…I wonder what type of person you are.'_


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> posted this a little bit earlier than i wanted to cause im making good progress. also that first chapter is more of an introduction so i want to give yall a bit more to work with. i expect to start updating either weekly or every other week, classes may be online but man are they rough
> 
> anyways, i hope yall enjoy! i apologize in advance for any grammar mistakes

"Lisa-nee!"

"Ako!"

Lisa grins broadly as Ako all but tackles her, laughing as she returns the hug in full force. Rinko trails behind, closing the front door to ward off the terrible heat coming from outside.

"It's been  _ so  _ long~!" Ako whines as she snuggles more into Lisa's embrace.

"It's only been a couple of weeks." Lisa remarks with amusement, giggling when Ako pouts and breaks away.

"A couple weeks is still too long!"

"H-Hello, Imai-san." Rinko greets softly.

Lisa gives her an easy smile and gives her a quick hug. "Hey Rinko. Need any help moving your stuff in?" She nudges her head over to where Yukina is sulking. "That one over there won't be of much help, by the way."

"Heya Yukina-san!" Ako greets enthusiastically. She giggles sheepishly when all she gets is a nod. "Geez, Yukina-san's too cool for me. Are you sure we can live together?"

"Oh please, she's anything but that." Lisa comments as she shoots Yukina a knowing look. Yukina sends her a warning glance but Lisa ignores it like the best friend she is. "You guys should see her around Ran, her brain literally—"

Yukina abruptly stands up, stopping Lisa from continuing. When Yukina glares at her, she snickers.

"If the two of you have any lighter objects, then I should be able to help." Yukina states and Rinko nods.

"W-We do." She and Yukina walk towards the front door. "There's some small storage boxes in the car."

"Good."

"Alrighty!" Lisa exclaims as she leads the others to the front door. "Yukina and I had a bunch of stuff from our old place, so I asked Tomoe to help us out with more of the heavy stuff last week. We're pretty much done moving in, so we can help you out."

Ako stops walking and the rest follow. "Onee-chan told me!" Ako adds before furrowing her brows in thought. "Doesn't onee-chan live in the same area? Ako swears she’s been around here before."

"Next door, actually." Yukina clarifies and Lisa has to hold back a snicker. Tomoe lives with Ran, so Yukina would know. "A very peculiar coincidence."

"Oh my god no way! That's why this area seems so familiar! Ako was wondering why we stopped next to a house that looks like her place." Ako exclaims as she jumps excitedly. Lisa can't help but smile at how much Ako adores her sister—the two are inseparable, and it's obvious they both hold each other in high regard. "Sucks she had work so she couldn't help us move the things in today. Ako wants to be with onee-chan more~."

"W-We live next to each other...so I'm sure we can see her soon." Rinko comforts. "It's a good thing...Aoba-san was able to drop off...Tomoe-san for work."

"Right? Ako was wondering why onee-chan gave us her keys and told us to park her truck on the street later." Ako responds before turning to Lisa with a wide grin. "We gotta visit onee-chan later!"

"Of course! Maybe we can have dinner with her as well." Lisa agrees, sending Yukina a discreet wink. Yukina ignores her, opting to look at her phone instead. Lisa hums thoughtfully. "Ah, since Moca lives next to us, we can carpool for work."

Rinko clears her throat and everyone turns to her. She fidgets slightly at the attention, but manages to say, "Hikawa-san said she's going to b-bring some of her stuff today...as well." 

Lisa jolts slightly in surprise. She forgot about that, but she quickly recovers. "Well, enough talking, more working!" Lisa responds. She gives everyone a knowing smile. "If we finish early enough, I can make cookies too~."

"Lisa-nee's cookies?" Ako's eyes gleam brightly. "Sign me in!"

Rinko giggles at her girlfriend's behavior—ever since they became friends with Lisa, she would bring some cookies every time they would meet up. It's become a sort of tradition. Lisa brings homemade cookies, Rinko brings refreshments, and Ako brings even more snacks. Sometimes, when Yukina isn't busy and is feeling like it, she comes along and brings anything with high sugar content, much to Ako's liking and Lisa's distaste. Those two consume way too much sugar.

The four go outside and proceed to bring in various boxes and bags. It's hot, so they make sure to get Ako and Rinko's computers first. After they get all of the relatively small items, they decide to start carrying the furniture from Tomoe's truck.

Lisa and Ako grunt as they push the queen sized bed upstairs to the master room while Yukina opens the doors. Ako and Rinko wanted to be in the same room so they took the biggest one. The others didn't mind—the bigger the room, the more money you have to pay after all.

The community they moved into was a series of houses rented out to students who went to the university nearby. The house itself is fairly large, but the downside is that all the rooms were upstairs. Still, Yukina was able to get the place because of her (surprising) connection to Kasumi, a well known, overly enthusiastic student who goes to the same university. She lives in the same community and gave Yukina her leasing agent's number.

They're sweating by the time they move all of the stuff in, so Lisa decides to make some ice cold lemonade while they take a break. They sit at the dining table, fanning themselves as they make small talk. Yukina gets up momentarily to crank down the AC and then sits back down, sighing lightly. Once Lisa pours a serving for everyone, Ako starts gulping down her drink.

"Ako-chan, slow down...or you'll," Rinko worryingly says and Lisa giggles when Ako immediately starts clutching her head in pain, "...get a brain freeze."

"Owie~." Ako groans.

"That's why you don't chug cold drinks." Lisa says in a matter-of-fact tone and Ako whines.

"Ako's so thirsty though~."

"I'm glad the AC is stronger than the apartment we used to live in." Yukina observes. She took the best seat: the chair at the end of the table right under the vent. As Yukina sips her drink, Lisa eyes their sugar jar suspiciously—a noticeable fraction seems to be missing.

"Did you put four spoons of sugar again?" Lisa accuses and Yukina flinches. "This is exactly why you have a cavity every time you visit the dentist."

Ako makes a face. "Going to the dentist sucks." She comments and Yukina nods her head sagely. 

"I agree."

Lisa sighs. "That's because the two of you don't think about all the sugar you consume." She gives Ako a pointed look. "You need to stop drinking that godforsaken Mountain Dew."

"Nu uh Ako's a Gfuel type of gal now!" Ako exclaims as she brings a hydro flask out of nowhere, presumably filled with whatever energy drink she's talking about. "Need the energy for grinding after all."

Lisa looks at Rinko. Rinko averts her eyes. "Not you too, Rinko!" Rinko blushes at Lisa's exasperation.

"I-It's only sometimes!" Rinko defends shyly.

"Geez, I'm really gonna have to look out for the three of you, huh." Lisa smiles playfully. "Cat lover over here is absolutely terrible with cooking."

Ako and Rinko turn to her, expecting some sort of embarrassed outburst, but Yukina just shrugs.

"It's true."

"That's okay, Rinrin's amazing at cooking!" Ako puffs her chest out in pride before looking at Rinko with dreamy eyes, "Your food is  _ so _ good."

Rinko flushes and twiddles with her hands nervously. "N-Not really."

"Well, I'm glad to have some help in the kitchen~." Lisa sends Rinko a grateful look and Ako raises her hand.

"I can help too! I used to help onee-chan all the time!"

Lisa is about to retort that the only thing Tomoe can cook is a scrambled egg and not even a sunny-side up egg, but she is interrupted by three firm knocks on their door. Lisa blinks in surprise. She doesn't know anyone who knocks like that, so she turns to Yukina.

"That must be Sayo." Yukina confirms her suspicions.

Lisa tries not to be visibly excited. It's not every day she gets to meet one of Yukina's very few friends. She gets up and smiles at Yukina.

"I'll go get the door." Lisa says and Yukina shrugs. Less walking for her.

"Go for it."

Lisa walks over in anticipation. She readies her usual, friendly smile and opens the door—

—only to have her breath taken away by the most beautiful person she's ever seen.

She's got long, teal hair pulled up into a ponytail. She's wearing a casual t-shirt and pants, but she looks undoubtedly  _ good _ in them. She's taller than her, and Lisa can tell that she works out—her arms are defined enough, and Lisa almost has to pinch herself when she starts to think about how firm they must be. 

Lisa blinks, trying to think straight but terribly failing. When the hottest person she's ever met raises a perfectly sculpted eyebrow, she forgets how to breathe for a split second.

"Good afternoon. My name is Hikawa Sayo, and I will be your new housemate." Sayo greets Lisa with a velvety, yet polite tone. She gives her a small, tentative smile. "Pardon me, but it is quite hot outside. May I come in?"

Lisa hopes she's not gawking at her unbearably hot roommate. This is the person she's going to be living with? For an entire year?!

"R-Right!" Lisa stammers, trying to relax. She lets Sayo in with an amiable smile, hoping her nervousness isn't showing. "Sorry about that. I'm Lisa by the way."

"It is nice to meet you, Imai-san." Sayo responds formally. She glances at the house and nods in satisfaction. "The house looks good."

Lisa grins widely at that. "Thanks. Yukina was of no help though."

Sayo chuckles at that, and Lisa literally feels her entire being melt into a puddle. Even her  _ laughter _ sounds good. "I'm not surprised."

"Why must you all tease me so?" Yukina grumbles and Ako giggles.

"Cause it's easy~." Ako states in a sing-song voice before turning to Sayo, a hand on her chin. "Hm, you look familiar though, Sayo-san."

"Perhaps you met my sister." Sayo suggests with an exasperated sigh, making Lisa tilt her head in curiosity. She didn't know Sayo has a sister. "We're identical twins. Well, identical physically. Not so much when it comes to everything else."

"No no no Ako swears she's seen you before!" Ako insists, and Lisa watches in silent amusement when she sees the gears in her head turning until Rinko taps on her shoulder.

"The special item for the NFO event...at the video game store." Rinko helpfully supplies and Ako jumps up.

"That's right!" 

Sayo adopts a thoughtful expression. "The two of you play NFO?" Sayo asks and Ako nods, overly excited.

"Hell yeah we do!"

"It's our...favorite game."

"Then I'm glad to have met another player." Sayo replies with a bow. "And the two of you are?"

"Udagawa Ako!"

"S-Shirokane Rinko."

"A pleasure to meet you, Udagawa-san, Shirokane-san." Sayo slightly bows again and Lisa is amazed at how well mannered she is. "I apologize if I interrupted anything, but I do require assistance with a couple of things."

"We were just having some lemonade. Do you want some?" Lisa offers and Sayo nods.

"Thank you." 

Lisa walks over to the table and Sayo follows her. She pouts her a glass and Sayo takes a sip, humming in approval. 

"Am I correct in saying that this is not store bought?" Sayo questions and Lisa looks at her in surprise.

"What makes you think that?"

"It's too good to be sold in a store." She explains nonchalantly as she takes another sip. "I assume you made it, Imai-san?" Lisa giggles bashfully under the scrutiny of Sayo's gaze.

"Well, yeah." Lisa responds with a slightly nervous smile. Sayo seems to be quite perceptive. "How'd you know?"

"Minato-san definitely didn't make this." Yukina scowls at that. "Ah, I didn't mean that as an insult. I...heard from Toyama-san you burned cup noodles before."

"Yeah, yeah." Yukina grumbles. She knows Sayo doesn't mean it, but it sucks when everyone keeps reminding her about how shitty of a cook she is. Lisa immediately notices.

"Aw, Yukina, don't be sad." Lisa comforts with a small smile. "I can try to teach you how to cook again."

Yukina turns to her and Lisa's smile grows soft when she sees the hopeful glimmer in her eyes. "Even though I failed miserably last time?"

Lisa rolls her eyes. "Of course! You're my best friend after all." She ignores the fact that Yukina almost burned down the kitchen last time, but then again she has Rinko to help supervise now.

"So if you knew it wasn't Yukina-san, how come you didn't think it was Ako or Rinrin?" Ako points out curiously. Rinko shrinks when she meets Sayo's watchful gaze.

"Simply because of Imai-san's reaction." Sayo turns to Lisa, who reddens when those stunning emerald eyes look at her.

"Aha, that obvious huh?"

" _ Very _ obvious." Yukina reiterates and Lisa feels her heart stop. Yukina is giving her the Look—the one she gives her when she figures something out about Lisa that is particularly...sensitive.

"R-Right!" Lisa stammers before clearing her throat. "We should probably help Sayo out now. The heat won't do any good to her stuff."

Sayo takes another sip of the lemonade. "I appreciate both the drink and the help."

"Well, we're gonna be roomies so it's the least we can do." Lisa responds warmly and Sayo seems slightly taken aback. She hesitantly sends her a small, grateful smile in return, and Lisa feels her heart do backflips.

"You won't be staying tonight though, right Sayo-san?" Ako asks, suddenly remembering the last conversation in their group chat, and Sayo shakes her head, sending the group an apologetic look.

"Unfortunately not. I am only here to drop off most of my things. I lived in an apartment last year, and I would like to clean up some more before my lease ends." Sayo explains and Ako pouts.

"Dang it. Ako wants to play NFO with Sayo-san."

Sayo sends her an amused look and Lisa can't help but stare, mesmerized. It's so unfair how gorgeous all of her sides are. "I have my laptop at home, Udagawa-san. I can get online at any time."

"Awesome!" Ako exclaims before turning to Rinko. "Rinrin! We might be able to defeat the event boss tonight!"

Rinko smiles and holds Ako's hand. "We should focus on...helping Hikawa-san at the moment."

Ako nods with excitement and the three go ahead, talking about NFO and what level they are. Meanwhile, Lisa trails behind them with Yukina, who gives her a knowing look.

"Stop it." Lisa whispers firmly and Yukina quietly snickers. Still, she decides to ignore her warning like Lisa did earlier. 

"You sure got it bad for Sayo." Yukina teases and Lisa lightly smacks her arm.

"I didn't know she was gonna be freakin' hot!" Lisa responds in a low tone. "You could have warned me!"

"As long as you don't get too interested, you'll be fine." Yukina reassures and Lisa pouts. "But if you  _ are _ wondering, Sayo is, ah, what's the term? Single and ready to mingle."

Lisa groans loudly at that and the three in front of them turn around. Sayo looks at her, slightly concerned. "Is something the matter, Imai-san?"

"Nope! I'm good! Yukina is just being Yukina like usual." Lisa covers up and Yukina rolls her eyes. She doesn't mind being the excuse as long as Lisa gives her more cookies.

"I see." Sayo turns around and leads the group to her car, which is parked right behind Tomoe's truck. When they get there, they look at her car with surprise. At the deafening sound of silence, Sayo cautiously asks, "Is something the matter?"

Ako laughs nervously. "Well, we didn't expect you to own a car like this."

"Ako is right. I expected a more practical car from you."

True to their words, Sayo drives a dark blue M8 Gran Coupe BMW. Not only is it a luxury car, it's one of the more pricier BMW models. Lisa only knows because her friend, Hina, drives the same model that's a lighter shade of blue. When Lisa asked her about it, she said it was at least $130k. 

Her shared car with Yukina is more than half the price of that. Ah, the woes of a broke college student.

"I understand. My parents worked hard to ensure that Hina and I live comfortably, although I did save up money to help them out for this car." Sayo replies, though Lisa can tell she is slightly uncomfortable with the topic. But then she realizes something and gawks at her.

"Wait, is Hina your sister?" Lisa asks and Sayo gives her a questioning look.

"I thought you would notice, Imai-san. I did say I have an identical twin." 

"That's right. I can't believe I wasn't able to piece it together." Lisa laughs with embarrassment. She supposes she was too shocked when she first saw Sayo to connect the dots. But then again, Hina never mentioned Sayo's name.

"How were you able to fit your stuff inside?" Yukina wonders as Sayo opens the trunk and the rear passenger doors.

"I don't have a lot to bring." Sayo responds as she takes out some boxes and sets them down on the floor. She only has four containers, so they task Yukina with door duty. "These are most of my clothes and things that I need for school."

"Well, if you need to bring any furniture, onee-chan has a truck." Ako brings up and Sayo nods. 

"Ah, I was wondering who's car that was. Thank you for the offer. I have a chair, desk, mattress, and dresser left in my room. I was going to ask another friend if she could help me, but she is usually busy."

Lisa sweatdrops at that. She herself has the same, except she owns 3 dressers and a mirror. The rooms come with a closet, but Lisa owns a lot of clothes.

"You don't have...a bedframe?" Rinko brings up and Sayo shakes her head.

"It's a hassle to assemble, even more so when you move out."

"So true~. Onee-chan says she'll help Ako later, but Ako was looking at the instructions and it's so weird."

Once they get Sayo's things, they go back into the house and move them into her room. Lisa tries not to think about how her room is the closest to Sayo's or the fact that they have to share a bathroom. Yukina called dibs on the only other bedroom that has its own bathroom since she found the place.

"Is that everything?" Lisa asks Sayo, who nods in affirmation. She grins enthusiastically and leans closer to her. "Great! I can't wait for you to move in~. We can have a movie night to celebrate."

Sayo distances herself slightly and clears her throat. Lisa tries not to let her disappointment show, but she figures she's being too friendly.

"I suppose I share the sentiment, Imai-san." Sayo replies as she averts her eyes and Lisa brightens up. Maybe she doesn't like being physically close with other people—it took Yukina just about 10 years to warm up to her after all.

As the group walks downstairs, Lisa hums thoughtfully. "What type of movies do you guys like?"

"Doesn't matter." Yukina nonchalantly says and Sayo shrugs.

"Anything is fine."

Lisa groans inwardly at their very helpful answers and looks at Ako and Rinko.

"Action is cool! Comedy is good too." Ako answers and Rinko twiddles with her fingers.

"A-As long as it's not...scary."

"Got it! We can pick something out later." Lisa says before looking at Sayo. "Will you at least stay until the cookies are done?"

"You bake cookies?" At Lisa's nod, Sayo shakes her head and gives her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Imai-san. I have a good amount of work left to do."

Once again, Lisa tries not to look disappointed. "It's fine~. I'll just make a fresh batch for when you officially move in."

"I really do appreciate the offer." Sayo sends Lisa that adorable, hesitant smile again and Lisa wills herself not to blush. "I will take my leave now. Thank you for your help."

"Until next time, Sayo."

"Bye bye Sayo-san!"

"G-Goodbye Hikawa-san."

"See you later, Sayo~."

And with that, Sayo leaves. When the door closes, Lisa blinks, not knowing she was staring the whole time. She turns around to see Ako wearing a shit-eating grin.

"So~, looks like Lisa-nee's got a crush."

Lisa groans audibly. "Not you too."

"Hikawa-san seems...nice."

"Sayo is well-mannered. But she's very serious about her studies." Yukina comments as she gives Lisa an unreadable look. "You should know only things she cares about are school and dogs."

"Dogs?" Lisa tilts her head curiously and Yukina nods. "Ah, that's right. Hina did mention that her sister is a completely different person when it comes to dogs." 

Lisa wonders if she should ask Chisato if she could bring Leon over just to see Sayo's reaction. She smiles at the thought—seeing a tender Sayo petting a dog is definitely on her bucket list now.

"Anyways Ako wants cookies!" Ako exclaims and Lisa rolls her eyes, playfully patting her head. "Mou~, Ako isn't a kid anymore!"

"True, but you  _ are _ the baby here." Lisa states, winking at Rinko. "To think someone like Rinko would snag a high schooler when she's in college~."

Rinko's blush is hot enough that Lisa swears she sees steam coming from her face. "W-Well, I knew Ako-chan b-before because of NFO and...we met up when I was a freshman, b-but we didn't start d-dating until—"

"Look at her. She's embarrassed to death." Yukina interrupts as she gives Lisa a glare. Lisa waves her hands defensively.

"I'm just joking~." Lisa claims with an easy smile and Rinko breathes in relief. She slings an arm around Rinko, who is used to the contact by now and leans into the touch. She's glad she met Lisa and got to know how nice platonic intimacy can be. "I think it's so cute that the two of you met up in real life after playing NFO together for years."

"And then we got together in real life too!" Ako says proudly, moving to wrap a hand around Rinko's arm. "When Ako met Rinrin, Ako had the hugest crush on her. Onee-chan had to talk to Ako for weeks so Ako could get the confidence to ask her out!"

"I-I'm...really glad you did." Rinko softly confesses and Ako beams.

"And what about you?" Yukina directs the attention to Lisa, who breaks away from Rinko in surprise. "What are your intentions with Sayo?"

Lisa waves her hands frantically. "N-Nothing! Geez, I just think she's hot." When Yukina stares at her, she continues, "Honest! Just physical attraction. Besides, why do you care?"

"Sayo is a good friend of mine. And you're not necessarily the type to stay...committed." Ako and Rinko look at each other and Lisa rolls her eyes.

"It's not like I cheated on anybody!" Lisa defends and turns to Ako and Rinko. "Yukina says that because I've always been the person who initiates the break up." When the two look puzzled, she reveals, "Okay, okay! My longest relationship was 3 weeks." At the dubious look still present on their faces, Lisa hesitantly continues, "And I've been in, um, six relationships."

"Which is why I don't want you flirting with Sayo only to jump boat when you lose interest." Yukina reiterates firmly and Lisa groans. "It would be very awkward if the two of you got together and then broke up before the lease ended." 

Yukina is right. The moment she felt like the "feelings were gone", she instantly broke up with her partner. But in Lisa's defense, one shouldn't stay in a relationship if they don't feel the same way about the other person anymore. It's just not fair to them.

"Yeah, yeah~. Don't worry, you know I'm still waiting for that one person to be the Ako to my Rinko." Lisa waves it off and the mentioned couple blushes. "Well, in my case, it's probably more like the Tomoe to my Himari." She stretches lightly and proceeds to start the preparations for baking the cookies. "Anyways, I haven't felt such a strong affection for someone yet, but if I do, you'll be the first to know."

"I hope so." Yukina says with finality and Lisa playfully rolls her eyes at that. She knows that Yukina has good intentions, but Lisa thinks she's way too worried. It's not like Sayo likes her. In fact, she seemed to be a bit distant, but that's probably because they just met for the first time.

Ako looks like she doesn't know what to say, but still adds, "Ako hopes everything works out!"

Rinko nods in agreement and Lisa gives them a grateful smile. "Thanks. I'm sure everything will be fine. Being physically attracted isn't the same as being romantically interested after all."

With that, the group goes their separate ways. Lisa gets right to baking cookies while Yukina sits at the dining table and scrolls through her phone, patiently waiting for the cookies to be done. Ako and Rinko curl up on the couch and turn the TV on, waiting for the cookies to be done as well.

Little does Lisa know what's to come.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the 3rd chapter is finally here~
> 
> im pretty sure ive said this before, but the next chapter might be uploaded 2 weeks from now, depending on how much i can get done (cause i like to write chapters ahead so i can post them weekly). but hey, theres always the chance that i write hella so heres to hoping lol
> 
> anyways, i hope yall enjoy. i apologize in advance for any grammar mistakes, and feel free to comment your thoughts so far :)

_ A couple days later... _

When the oven rings, Lisa immediately puts her gloves on. She gracefully takes the cookies out and places them on the counter. She glances at Rinko, who is stirring the pot on the stove.

"Is the curry almost done?" Lisa asks and Rinko nods. 

"It should be...done now."

"Great!" Lisa goes to the living room. She yells in the general direction of the stairs, "Everyone~! Dinner's ready!"

She giggles when she hears rapid footsteps, not surprised when Ako comes into view and jumps the last couple of steps. The first year flashes Lisa a smile before rushing to the kitchen and glomping Rinko, who laughs softly and kisses her on the head. "Yay~! Ako loves curry!"

Ako and Rinko proceed to set up the table, but Yukina and Sayo have yet to leave their rooms. Lisa hums thoughtfully. Maybe they didn't hear her.

She goes upstairs and decides to knock on Yukina's door first. Two rapid knocks like always. When Yukina opens the door, she blinks owlishly at her.

"Is something the matter?" Yukina questions.

"You didn't hear me when I said dinner's ready?" Yukina shakes her head and Lisa notices that she has an earphone on. Looks like she guessed correctly. "Well, that's fine. Come on down, we're going to be watching a movie after too."

Yukina nods and goes out of her room to go downstairs. One down, one to go, Lisa thinks. She takes in a deep breath. It's just physical attraction. It's not like she's romantically interested in Sayo. They've barely met, and the notion of falling in love at first sight always made Lisa cringe despite the romantic she is.

She walks over to Sayo's door and knocks twice. She waits for a moment and the door opens.

"Imai-san?" Sayo looks at her with slight confusion. Lisa notes that she has a wireless headset wrapped around her neck. Looks like she didn't hear her call either.

Lisa gives her a small smile. "Hey, Sayo. Rinko and I made some curry for dinner if you want to join us." Lisa says and Sayo stares blankly at her, as if she wasn't expecting the offer. 

"Is that so? Thank you, I will be down in a moment." Sayo politely responds but before she can close the door, Lisa catches her arm. She quickly lets go, remembering that Sayo doesn't seem to like close contact.

"Sorry! It's just that we're going to watch a movie after. I wanted to know if you can stay downstairs to watch it with us." Lisa explains. Ever since Sayo moved in, she would stay inside her room, studying for the next school year even though the first day of class is a week away. It was definitely an understatement when Yukina said Sayo takes her studies seriously.

"Ah, that's right." Sayo hums thoughtfully. Lisa knows she doesn't have to, but she feels the need to give Sayo her puppy eyes—she really wants the group to hang out together, and the puppy eyes almost always work with Yukina. "...I suppose I can make some time." Sayo relents and Lisa beams, not noticing the tips of Sayo's ears turning red.

"Awesome~! I made some cookies too." Lisa responds happily, holding back a giggle when she sees Sayo's eyes sparkle.

"Is that so? I shall be downstairs then." Sayo immediately replies and Lisa gives her a teasing smile.

"I probably should have started with that, you seem to really like cookies~." Lisa jokes and Sayo's face turns crimson.

"Well, your cookies always taste wonderful." It's Lisa's turn to blush. "I myself am trying to get better at cooking and baking. Hina visited once last year and was...upset at what she saw." Sayo shifts uncomfortably and Lisa raises an eyebrow.

"I know Hina loves fries and cup noodles. If she wasn't living with Aya and Eve, I'd be scared for her health."

Sayo flinches lightly. At the mention of her sister or her eating habits, Lisa doesn't know. But what Lisa does know is that family seems to be a topic Sayo doesn't like to talk about.

It's only been a couple of days since everyone settled in, but Sayo hasn't revealed much of herself. All Lisa knows is that she's a business major who likes dogs and is very serious when it comes to studies. Not only that, she seems like the type who bottles up her problems until they're ready to explode. 

Lisa wants to change that. She wants to be a shoulder Sayo can lean on. That's always how she's been—if she has the power to help someone, then she will do her best to help them. On top of that, she likes being on good terms with everyone (if she can), especially the people she's living with.

Sayo sighs lightly as she walks back into her room. She keeps the door open for Lisa, who takes that as a sign she can come in. "One of the very few things Hina and I share is our love of junk food." Sayo admits as she sets down her headset and pockets her phone in her pants. "Although I must confess that I tend to go...overboard if left unchecked."

Lisa gives her a warm smile, happy that Sayo was able to open up just a little bit. "Well, I won't let that happen. I'll make sure to make something, hm~, relatively healthy every day!"

Sayo quirks up an eyebrow at her pause. "Relatively?"

"We're having curry tonight. There's a good amount of vegetables, but it's still not the healthiest thing." Lisa laughs, managing to get Sayo to smile a little. "Do you like curry?"

"I do." Sayo nods and Lisa takes the chance to quickly gloss over her room.

It's neat, tidy, and very minimalistic. Sayo doesn't even have any posters or decorations. She really is practical, except for her choice in cars that seems.

"Are there carrots?" Sayo carefully asks.

"Yeah." When Sayo frowns the slightest, Lisa continues, "Do you not like carrots?"

Sayo clears her throat and averts her eyes. "...Not necessarily."

Lisa inwardly giggles—she didn't expect Sayo to dislike anything, especially with how fit she is. "I'll keep that in mind for next time. Anyways, the others should be downstairs." Lisa brings up as she moves out of Sayo's room. "Let's go join them, I think Ako wanted to say something about orientation."

Sayo hums in acknowledgement. The two leave her room and go downstairs to find the others seated already. Ako and Rinko are sitting next to each other, and Yukina is sitting at her favorite spot: the end of the table that's right under the vent. 

"Lisa. Sayo." Yukina greets nonchalantly.

"Minato-san." Sayo responds with a slight bow. She turns to Ako and Rinko. "Udagawa-san, Shirokane-san." Ako grins widely and Rinko shyly waves at her.

"Heya~!" Lisa says as she takes her usual seat and Sayo sits next to her.

"Thank you for the food!" Everyone says before digging in.

Ako groans loudly as soon as she takes a bite. "This tastes _ so _ good~!"

"Indeed." Sayo agrees and gives Ako a hard look. "But perhaps you should try to contain yourself—such sounds at the dinner table lack discipline." 

Ako salutes. "Roger, roger."

"Sayo is correct in terms of dining table mannerisms, but so is Ako when it comes to the food." Yukina nods proudly. "As expected of Lisa and Rinko."

"Haha, thanks everyone~."

"T-Thank you."

There's a moment of silence as everyone eats. Lisa notes that Yukina is eating all the cat-shaped cookies while Sayo is eating all the dog-shaped cookies. Ako and Rinko take whichever one comes into view first. Lisa smiles in satisfaction. To think cookies would unite their group so easily.

"So what have you all been up to lately?" Lisa asks after a bite.

"Nothing much." Yukina answers with that nonchalant manner of hers and Lisa rolls her eyes.

"Watching cat videos like usual. Got it."

The group shares a giggle when Yukina blushes. She doesn't deny it, but she can't really in the first place. Lisa's seen the screen time on her phone—at least 4 hours are dedicated to cat videos on YouTube every day.

"Ako's been grinding for the limited staff for the current NFO event!" Ako speaks up as she grabs a cat cookie, not noticing Yukina's slight frown. She munches on it happily before taking a dog cookie. Lisa watches in silent amusement when Sayo makes a disgruntled face.

"I-It's not even...for your class." Rinko replies with a curious look.

"But it is for your class Rinrin. Ako knows Rinrin is gonna be too busy to grind for it, so Ako wants to get it for Rinrin!"

Rinko's face colors into a light pink when Ako looks at her with pure affection. Lisa awes at the scene before her.

"Oh my gosh they're so cute~!" Lisa whispers to Sayo, who hums in agreement.

"I would play with Udagawa-san, but I'd rather focus on my upcoming classes." Sayo states and gives the youngest member of the house a stern look. "Perhaps you should study as well. I hear Computer Science is a rather difficult field."

Ako laughs nervously. "W-Well, Ako does know how to program already. Besides, Rinrin is also in CS! If Ako's ever stuck, Rinrin will be by my side!"

"T-That's true. But...I won't help you unless...I have to."

"Of course! It's no fun to get all of the answers without actually understanding~."

Sayo nods her head, evidently satisfied with Ako's answer. Lisa notes that she seems to be a stickler for the honor system as well.

Sayo seems to be serious in almost every single aspect. Lisa respects Sayo a lot for that, but she thinks she needs to ease up a little bit. She can already tell that Sayo is the type to overwork herself until she gets sick. Maybe watching this movie with her will be a small step towards that.

"Anyways," Ako starts and when everyone gives her their attention, she continues, "did you guys hear about Joe?"

Lisa sweatdrops. She knows where Ako's going with this—she got pranked by Moca recently during work. She shares a look with Rinko, who shoots her an apologetic smile.

"No, but I hear he works with Ben." Sayo responds nonchalantly and Ako blinks with surprise. She didn't expect Sayo of all people to counterattack her.

"Doesn't he also work with Candice?" Ako asks with her best poker face, which is actually convincing if you didn't know what the punchline to the joke is, and Lisa swears she sees Sayo smirk a little.

"He does. They all went to SawCon recently." Sayo doesn't take the bait, but Ako looks confused enough that she might fall for it.

And she does.

"What's SawCon?" Ako questions incredulously as Sayo takes a bite of her food.

Sayo swallows her food. Both Lisa and Rinko are looking at her with anticipation. And Yukina? Yukina is just plain confused.

_ 'Who the hell are they talking about?' _ Yukina thinks to herself as she silently watches the scene unfold. Unfortunately, she decides to take a bite of food as soon as Sayo answers.

"SawCon these nuts." Sayo replies smoothly, a very rare smirk present on her face.

Yukina chokes on her food and immediately starts to drink water in order to swallow it down. Ako is looking at Sayo in shock. Both Lisa and Rinko start gigging, unable to hold it in anymore. It's rare to see Ako get trolled back.

"Oh my god I can't believe Sayo said that." Lisa says as she tries her best to breathe.

Ako may have gotten bested at her own game, but she looks at Sayo with respect. "Sayo-san, Ako officially sees you as the second coolest person in the whole universe."

Yukina frowns at that. "What about me?"

"Yukina-san's always cool. You're like, third now."

Sayo chuckles at Ako's antics. "Well, I'm glad to know I am quite high on the list."

Lisa makes a face, bummed that she's being left out. "What about me~?"

"Lisa-nee is cool too!" Ako defends. "But like, a onee-chan type of cool."

"Wouldn't that make me second place then?" Lisa teases and Ako pouts. "Isn't Tomoe number 1?"

"Mou, Ako can't think anymore~!" Ako exclaims as she clutches her head in mock pain and Lisa laughs.

"I'm just joking~." Lisa responds before taking a bite. "Didn't you want to talk about orientation though?"

Ako claps her hands excitedly. "That's right~! So get this, they had a whole section that was like, party vibes or something. There was a DJ playing music but this girl somehow got drunk cause she was  _ wildin _ . She was throwing it back like a thot but then vomited and—"

"Stop, stop." Yukina interrupts as she waves her hand around and all eyes dart to her. "What does 'thot' and 'throwing it back' mean?"

Sayo turns to Lisa, who giggles at the incredulous look on her face. "Seriously? Even I know this."

"Yukina doesn't get out much." Lisa simply answers and Yukina scowls.

"I apologize for not understanding whatever jargon the general public is saying." Yukina sarcastically states with her arms crossed. Lisa laughs harder and leans over to poke her cheek.

"Don't be so sad, sugar pie~." When Yukina makes a disgusted look, Lisa tries, "Hm, honey bunny?"

"Your pet names are getting worse and worse." Yukina grumbles, grabbing a cat cookie when Lisa giggles.

"Minato-san, the word 'thot' is an acronym for, pardon my language, 'that hoe over there'." Sayo interjects and Lisa muffles her giggles. To think Sayo would ever say the word 'hoe'. "As for 'throwing it back'," Sayo makes eye contact with Lisa, who instantly shuts up, "perhaps Imai-san can explain it better."

Lisa isn't surprised—she knows how she looks, and Sayo isn't completely wrong about that part of her. But she still pouts. "Eh~? Is that how you see me Sayo?"

Sayo freezes and stammers, "N-Not exactly. I apologize, Imai-san, I didn't mean it as an insult. It's just you...seem like the type."

Lisa makes a hurt look, trying to guilt trip Sayo even more. When Sayo's face falters, she laughs, playfully nudging her with her shoulder.

"I'm just joking~." Sayo silently sighs in relief. "Well, you aren't wrong. I used to go to parties with the girls, but I'm kinda over the scene now."

"It's a good thing you're over it. It pained me to see you hungover all those times. Not to mention all those mornings you came home without texting me back." Yukina comments and Lisa blushes.

"Well, it was my fault for drinking too much! And I'm sorry you had to see me like that and worry over me when I wouldn't text you back. But I only do wholesome kickbacks now." When Yukina gives her a quizzical look, she explains, "Kickbacks are like a smaller party. We make it wholesome by playing games or watching movies. Usually we just talk though."

"Ah, I get it now. By 'we', I assume you mean Maruyama-san and Uehara-san." Lisa nods in confirmation.

"Everyone else from Himari's place usually comes, and if Aya's roommates can make it they're there too."

"Eh~, Ako wants to drink with onee-chan!"

"You're still...underage Ako-chan."

"Boo."

"Does Hina show up too?" Sayo questions as Lisa takes a cookie.

Lisa hums in affirmation. "Yep! She teases Aya so much." Lisa giggles. "You'd think she'd ease it up on her after they started dating, but it's been getting worse. Aya doesn't seem to mind though."

"So what does 'throwing it back' mean?" Yukina asks before the conversation flies off into a tangent again. Lisa laughs, a bit embarrassed that they got off topic.

"Hm, it's like you're dancing with someone but in a more, uh, intimate way."

Sayo gives Lisa a look. "Really? Just say grinding."

Both Lisa and Yukina blush at that. Meanwhile, Rinko continues to eat her food silently. It's not a topic she's familiar with after all. Whenever there's too many people, she just wants to curl up into a hole and hide. In fact, she used to get overwhelmed walking around campus, but she's used to it now. Lisa doesn't know it, but it's mostly because of her. She smiles to herself, thinking of a way to repay her cherished friend.

"Anyways!" Ako exclaims and gets everyone's attention again. "So this girl yaks and some people had to escort her out. But the thing is, the staff was like, 'Yackie Mackie's at it again!' and were pretty chill about it." Ako pauses to take a sip of water and Lisa blinks.

"Yackie Mackie? She's not a freshman." Lisa points out and Ako nods vigorously.

"Exactly! Medium, brown hair with bangs and green eyes?" Ako asks and Lisa nods in confirmation. "Cause Ako knows Lisa-nee knows her so Ako wanted to ask about it."

Lisa hums as she takes a dog cookie. She catches Sayo frown the slightest and holds back a smile. "Yeah, I've been to a couple of parties with her. She's really fun to be around, but I'm sure you all understand why some people are reluctant to invite her." Lisa hums amusedly. "To think she'd crash freshman orientation."

Sayo frowns. "I did not expect the university staff to be so lax about the rules. How did she get in?"

"Who knows? Ako saw the RAs handing money to each other, so she probably lost a bet and had to sneak into orientation."

"I wouldn't be surprised, there's a lot of bets going around." When Yukina looks at her curiously, Lisa continues, "Stuff like jumping into the fountain, climbing the statue in the middle of campus, stupid things like that. Some people just have too much time and almost no shame." 

"Interesting." Yukina remarks as Lisa takes a sip of her water.

"Yup! Looks like Yackie Mackie has to go to another disciplinary seminar." Lisa muses and they all look at her curiously. "It's not her first rodeo. The first time was during her own freshman orientation."

Sayo tilts her head. "Does she not mind having such a negative nickname?"

Lisa shrugs. "Like I said, she's actually really fun to be around. But after 3 drinks, not so much. The thing is that she's also super nice, so it's hard to dislike her."

Sayo hums as she takes the last cookie. Lisa does a quick look over and sees that everyone is done with eating, so she drinks the rest of her water and gets up.

"Alright! I'll go wash the dishes tonight. You guys just rest easy on the couch." Lisa says as she places her dishes in the sink and the rest follow. "Yukina, will you be a cutie patootie and put Netflix on?"

Yukina makes a vaguely annoyed face. "If I do, will you stop it with the nicknames?"

"Nope!" Lisa exclaims with a laugh and bumps her hips against hers, making Yukina sigh in exasperation. "Now shoo!"

"Thanks for washing the dishes Lisa-nee!" Ako says and gives her a quick hug.

"Of course~. Just know that starting tomorrow, everyone washes their own dishes." Lisa responds and Rinko nods her head.

"Thank you Imai-san." Rinko softly says and Lisa smiles gently. 

"Don't worry about it. I think there's some chips in the cabinet, so you can take them out if you wanna munch on them~."

"Chips? Ako wants some!"

Lisa laughs as she fondly looks at her housemates. Yukina is scrolling through Netflix while Ako and Rinko put some chips into a large bowl. They talk about what they should watch, but at some point Yukina takes her phone out to show her the most recent cat video she's come across, much to Ako's delight. Lisa rolls her eyes and turns around with a muted giggle. She turns on the sink, but gets surprised when Sayo moves next to her.

"I can help you, Imai-san." Sayo offers and Lisa smiles gratefully.

"Thanks Sayo~." Lisa replies. "I'll wash and you can dry?"

"Sounds good."

Lisa starts soaping the dishes, diligently cleaning them before washing them. She puts the ones she's finished with on the rack, and Sayo takes the dishes from there and dries them. Lisa hums as she thinks about a topic to talk about and decides to go for the default route. 

"So, you're a business major like Yukina?"

Sayo nods. "Indeed I am. What about you?"

Lisa almost forgot that she never told Sayo what she's majoring in. "I'm a nursing student~." Lisa responds, momentarily moving away to get the pot on the stove so she can clean it, and Sayo stops drying for a moment.

Lisa blinks when Sayo gives her an impressed look. "I'm surprised Imai-san. Our university includes a wide variety of majors, but I hear it is quite hard to get into the nursing program here considering how established it is." Lisa blushes lightly at Sayo's praise, but she tries to play it cool.

"Yeah, well, I always knew I wanted to help people out. And I want to stick by Yukina's side as long as I can, so I studied my butt off to go to this university with her." Lisa turns around briefly to see Yukina and Ako cooing over cat videos and giggles. "I'm glad she's able to make friends here. It's always been hard for her to make friends so," Lisa turns to Sayo and gives her a warm smile, "I'm happy she was able to be friends with you, Sayo. It takes a special kind of someone to get through to her."

When Sayo blushes, Lisa laughs. "Don't get embarrassed~, don't get embarrassed~. It's the truth."

There's a moment of silence as they continue cleaning before Sayo breaks it.

"I'm not used to people being very open or honest towards me." Sayo admits with that hesitant smile of hers. "Many get intimidated by me at first glance, but Minato-san did not."

"I wasn't scared of you when I first saw you." Lisa points out, cringing a bit when she accidentally clangs a dish, and Sayo hums.

"Perhaps it is because I have what Hina calls a 'resting bitch face', so I tried my best to not scare anyone off that day."

"That may be true, but I don't like to judge people by their appearance." Lisa says as she leans against the counter. "And so far, you seem to be considerate and very well-mannered." Lisa gives Sayo a bright smile. "Besides, a friend of Yukina's is a friend of mine~."

Sayo flushes lightly. "Thank you, Imai-san." When Sayo is done drying the last dish, she continues, "I must admit that I haven't met someone like you."

Lisa tilts her head, not knowing the effect it seems to have on Sayo. "Like me?"

Sayo clears her throat. "Yes. You are a very kind and friendly person, Imai-san. I'm glad to be roommates with you." She blushes at the confession. "My past roommate was usually busy with work or going out with her friends, so I spent a good amount of time by myself. It's nice to be around...friends."

Lisa awes at that. "Well, I'm here to change that~! If our schedules match up, we should hang out!" Lisa leans closer to her and doesn't notice the tips of Sayo's ears turning red. "We don't have to go outside, we can just chill in our rooms and talk mindlessly if you want. That's what Yukina and I usually do."

"That sounds great." Sayo mumbles and Lisa looks at her curiously. "Sorry, I'm not used to close contact. It's usually just Hina who comes into my personal space."

Lisa backs off slightly, trying to contain her panic. She doesn't want Sayo to feel uncomfortable after all. "Do you want me to give you some space?" Lisa asks. "I mean, that's totally fine if you want me to! I'm used to being close with all of my friends, so I don't want to overstep any boundaries."

Sayo shakes her head. "This is fine. It's...a nice feeling." She gives Lisa a tentative smile and Lisa doesn't think her heart has pounded this fast before.

"Guys~! We chose a movie!" Ako calls out and the two jolt in surprise. Lisa blushes and smiles nervously. "Hurry up~!"

"We should get going."

Lisa doesn't notice the crimson on Sayo's face, but she does see Yukina's suspicious stare.

"That took a while." Yukina says and Lisa rolls her eyes.

"We were just talking, baby boo~." Lisa teases and Yukina gives her an unimpressed look.

"Gross." Yukina responds flatly before looking at her phone again.

"What are we watching?" Sayo questions. Lisa takes a seat beside Yukina, and Sayo takes the other side.

"Some random comedy." Ako supplies as she cuddles up next to Rinko.

"At least it's not one of Lisa's cringey romance movies." Yukina drly comments and Lisa pouts.

"Hey, they're not  _ that _ cringey." Lisa counters. "And if it were up to you, we'd be watching a 3 hour documentary on cats again."

"Wild cats."

"It's the same thing."

"Absolutely not. The term 'cat' holds the conception of a household cat, which is different from lions and tigers. Therefore, the term is 'wild cats' because it is more specific."

Sayo chuckles at their banter. "Minato-san is right. I'm sure it is more common for documentaries to be about wild cats and household cats." Lisa pouts cutely, making Sayo shift uncomfortably. Sayo ignores Yukina's wary look and continues, "Shall we get started?"

Ako cheers enthusiastically and plays the movie. The five watch, eating chips as they watch the movie. They all laugh during certain parts of the movie, especially when Ako makes a handful of amusing jokes and comments.

It's getting late by the time the movie is over, and Ako and Rinko volunteer to clean up. Yukina makes a beeline straight to her room because her bedtime is much earlier than the others. After giving the couple her thanks, Lisa goes to the bathroom to get ready. And like all the nights before, she finds Sayo getting ready for bed as well.

Their bathroom has two sinks and the two decided that Lisa gets the sink closer to the outlet because she tends to use it more. They both divided up the cabinet space, although Sayo only has her toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, and mouthwash. On the other hand, Lisa has a lot more things. Despite this, she makes sure they're neat and organized.

"Hey~." Lisa greets as she walks around Sayo and Sayo nods in acknowledgement. "How was the movie?"

"Interesting." Sayo answers before brushing her teeth.

Lisa herself starts to wash her face and when she's finished, she sees Sayo doing the same. She starts brushing her teeth quietly and once she's done, she wipes her hands. She glances at Sayo and hums thoughtfully.

"You have a really pretty complexion." Lisa comments and Sayo's face lights up to a bright red. "Do you do anything?" Sayo shakes her head and Lisa gapes at her. "Seriously? Nothing? No face masks or cream?"

"Nothing at all, aside from washing my face before I sleep." Sayo reiterates and Lisa sulks.

"Not fair~. I use this face wash, but I ran out of face masks so I have to buy some soon. Makeup does some nasty things to your face." Lisa grumbles, and Sayo leans against the counter.

"Well, I think you look beautiful without makeup." Sayo says with an expression so sincere that Lisa can't stop the heat rushing to her cheeks. She giggles with embarrassment and leans a bit closer.

"Aw~, thanks Sayo." Lisa responds and Sayo smiles slightly.

"It's the truth."

Lisa gives her a pointed look. "Using my own words against me, huh?" She says playfully and Sayo shrugs.

"It seemed appropriate at the time." Sayo responds innocently.

Both are unsure of what to say next, but the silence is oddly comfortable. So they stay like that for a moment, staring at each other as if they were the only people in the world. But when Ako runs up the stairs followed by a giggling Rinko, the moment is ruined.

Lisa clears her throat. "So~," She starts as she picks up her hairbrush and starts brushing her hair, "any plans for tomorrow?" Sayo shakes her head. "Cool! Wanna go shopping with me?"

Sayo contemplates the offer and nods. "I don't mind. I suppose I have a few things I need."

Lisa smiles warmly at the thought of hanging out with Sayo. "Great! I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Until tomorrow, Imai-san." Sayo responds with one last smile before leaving. Once she's gone, Lisa closes the bathroom door and sighs.

"We're just friends." Lisa mutters. "This is just platonic affection mixed with physical attraction. It's not love."

But as Lisa falls asleep, she finds herself looking forward to her outing with Sayo. She tells herself it's because Sayo is an interesting person she recently befriended. The excitement she feels around her is purely platonic.

And as the night grows darker, Lisa falls into a deep slumber, dreaming of a soft, calming voice that distinctly sounds like Sayo's.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, i apologize in advance for any grammar mistakes or awkward wordings. even more so bc this chapter is like 9k words long lol.
> 
> i hope yall enjoy~! comments and constructive criticisms are much appreciated <3

Lisa hums idly as she flips through her textbook, jotting down notes whenever she catches information that may be useful. She glances at the TV every now and then, but she doesn't really pay attention to the show at hand. When she gets a text from a friend about one of her classes, she sighs tiredly.

They're only two weeks into the quarter, and Lisa finds herself as busy as ever. Unfortunately, she hasn't been able to hang out with her roommates as a group. They all had different schedules, so they were awake at different times. They were also busy with their own course load—even Ako who, despite being a first year, is taking 4 classes, which takes up even more of her time.

Despite this, they all try their best to have dinner every night. Some days, someone would be asleep or too busy (Sayo) to make it. On those nights, Lisa saves a portion and leaves it in the fridge, sending a text to whoever missed dinner so they can eat it whenever they can.

On top of that, Lisa seems to be unlucky this quarter considering how most of her classes take place early in the morning and then later on in the afternoon every day. Despite the long gap in between her classes, she takes solace in the fact that she, Yukina, and Sayo all have classes relatively at the same time.

Once Lisa is done texting her friend, she decides to take a break and goes to the couch. She lays down and stretches, sighing blissfully when she sinks into the soft cushions. Just as she is able to fully relax, Sayo opens the front door.

Lisa smiles and waves at her. "Heya~. Welcome back." Sayo waves back but takes one look at her attire and immediately averts her eyes. Lisa tilts her head in confusion—Sayo seems to be acting a bit shy lately, and she doesn't know why.

"I'm back." Sayo greets her with a small blush, pretending to be busy with taking her shoes off. Lisa is still confused as to why she's deliberately taking so long until she looks down.

Lisa is wearing a low-cut pink top and shorts, but her shorts are short enough to be considered bootyshorts. A light bulb finally pops in her head. She figures Sayo is a bit uncomfortable with seeing that much skin. She wouldn't be surprised if that's the case, seeing as she only wore casual t-shirts and longer shorts before school started.

"Should I change~?" Lisa teases and laughs when Sayo's blush spreads to her entire face.

"Of course not. You are free to wear whatever you want." Sayo responds stiffly as she sets her stuff down on the table. She notes that Lisa's things are there as well. "Are you studying as well?"

"Yup! I'm taking a quick break though." Lisa says as she waves Sayo over. "Come here~! You've been studying a lot too. You should take a break."

Sayo frowns. "I have a 10 page report to write." Lisa rolls her eyes playfully.

"And you're probably halfway done already. Let's watch this show for a little bit~." Lisa replies, grinning triumphantly when Sayo falters. She knows she's right—Sayo works way too much when it comes to school, staying up late at night studying yet waking up early enough for lecture. Lisa doesn't know how she does it. "Please~?" Lisa flashes her best puppy eyes, inwardly cheering when Sayo moves to the couch, her cheeks tinged a faint pink.

Lisa finds that her puppy eyes almost always work with Sayo. She thinks it's because they've been getting closer over the past two weeks. She's determined to become good friends with Sayo, and her efforts to hang out and talk to Sayo at a pace the latter is comfortable with seems to be working.

"Five minutes." Sayo mumbles as she sits down next to Lisa, keeping her eyes on the screen.

Lisa giggles at her reluctance. "Okay~."

Sayo is sitting a bit too far for Lisa's tastes, but it's still a lot closer than before. To think that two weeks can change that much makes Lisa wonder about the future. She watches the TV with a small smile, glad that Sayo seems to be lowering her guard around her.

Lisa shifts into a more comfortable position and hums when the TV flashes. After a brief moment, she glances at Sayo, who is watching with a disinterested gaze.

"Not your type of show?" Lisa asks and Sayo nods.

"Too many stereotypical characters." Sayo points out. "There's the intimidating guy, the funny guy, the woman they added so they can have more 'diversity', the leader-type guy, and their boss."

Lisa hums at her observation. "I'm not particularly interested too. It's just the usual dosage of action mixed with cheap comedy." Lisa states and Sayo looks at her curiously.

"Then why watch?"

Lisa's phone pings and she groans. "Anything to distract me from learning about microorganisms and cells will do." She slouches against the couch with a pout and Sayo chuckles.

"Perhaps," Sayo starts slowly and Lisa turns to her, "we can bake cookies instead?"

Lisa beams. "That sounds great~!"

The two completely forget that their break is supposed to last 5 minutes as they head to the kitchen. They take out everything they need and get started. Sayo measures the ingredients precisely and Lisa gets to mixing everything.

"How's class?" Lisa questions and Sayo hums.

"They're okay. You?"

"It sucks~. My professor has a real monotone voice, it makes me want to nap during lecture." Lisa says as she sulks. "Not to mention all the reading and memorizing."

"I would imagine."

The oven beeps, indicating that the temperature is set to the appropriate heat. Lisa opens it and puts the cookies in. She sets a timer and looks at Sayo, who is watching the oven intently.

"Glaring at the cookies won't make them bake faster~." Lisa teases, giggling when Sayo blushes. "Come on, let's go watch the show while we wait."

As they walk back to the living room, Sayo sees their things on the dining table, untouched and forgotten. "I feel like it would be more productive for us to do some schoolwork instead." Sayo responds and Lisa pouts.

"I thought the whole point of this was to take a break?" Lisa points out and Sayo blinks in realization. "You focus on school too much. It's good to ease up a little sometimes~."

"I suppose." 

They sit on the couch again and Lisa changes the channel, trying to find something interesting. When they hear sudden footsteps rumbling down the stairs, they brace themselves for what's to come. Only one person is that loud after all.

"Sayo-san, Sayo-san! You're back right?" Ako exclaims and the two hear Yukina groan. 

"You don't have to be so loud." Yukina mutters.

"But this is important!" When Ako sees Sayo on the couch in the living room, she drags an annoyed Yukina along. She grins widely when she notices Lisa sitting next to her. "Oh hey Lisa-nee~."

"Is something the matter, Udagawa-san?" Sayo questions and Ako nods vigorously.

"Tell Sayo-san!" Ako says and Yukina sighs.

"I will not."

"You have to!"

Lisa watches amusedly when Yukina's face twitches. The latter sighs and crosses her arms.

"Fine. I...may have started an NFO account." Yukina states and Sayo's eyes widen. "I was asking Ako why everything was slow."

"Right!" Ako exclaims as she jumps. "So it turns out her laptop can't handle the game on high quality so Ako changed it to low and removed some of the effects but anyways Ako was checking out her account and she chose the bard class but get this Sayo-san she somehow got the special lute for the current event how crazy is that!" Ako breathes heavily after her ridiculously long sentence and Lisa giggles at her obvious excitement. "Oh my god does this mean we all can party together? Lisa-nee, you gotta make an account too!!"

Lisa shrugs. "Sure. It sounds like fun." Lisa smiles warmly. "And if we can all spend time together, then that's even better."

Ako gasps and barrels into Lisa, who laughs and pets her head. "Aw, Lisa-nee, you're so sweet~!" 

Lisa hugs Ako back and smiles fondly. Ako is like the little sister she never had, and Lisa is glad to be friends with her.

"Minato-san's account must be lucky if she were able to get such an item." Sayo remarks and Yukina blinks, not knowing that luck is a factor in video games. "I'm free tomorrow night. I should be done with my paper by then."

"So it's decided!" Ako cheers excitedly as she hops off of Lisa and starts jumping. "We're gonna have a gaming night! LAN party! And it's gonna be a Saturday night so we can play all night~! Woohoo!" Ako is interrupted by a text. She looks at her phone and her face drops. "Oh shoot, I need to turn in my homework!" She rushes back upstairs, leaving the three by themselves.

"Are you making cookies?" Yukina asks as she moves to sit next to Lisa and Sayo nods. Lisa immediately swings an arm around her neck, giggling as she pokes Yukina's cheek.

"How'd you know it was cookies and not brownies?" Lisa asks and Yukina gives her a deadpan look.

"Because this is a cookie house." Yukina replies, unfazed by Lisa's affection. She hums thoughtfully. "You'd probably be the Cookie Queen."

"Oho~. What about Sayo?"

"Hm. Cookie Commander."

Sayo raises an eyebrow and Lisa laughs. "That's so true~." Lisa takes her arm off of Yukina and nudges her shoulder. "What about you?"

Yukina shrugs. "All I do is eat your cookies."

"Cookie Peasant then~!" Lisa proclaims and Yukina frowns.

"I am not a peasant."

"Don't be angry honey boo boo~." Lisa leans in closer with a shit-eating grin. "Or should I say, honey uwu~."

Lisa bursts into laughter when Yukina glowers at her. "That is terrible. Absolutely disgusting." Even Sayo cracks a smile at her reaction. "Enough with that...nonsense."

"What nonsense?" Lisa reiterates with a teasing smile.

"You are  _ not  _ going to make me say that cursed word." Yukina states flatly as she crosses her arms and Lisa just grins at her. "Don't give me that look."

"What look? Don't I look normal?" Lisa turns to Sayo. "I'm just being normal, right?"

Sayo hums in amusement. "Indeed. You have that, ah, what did Hina call it? That colon three face."

Yukina furrows her eyebrows and it's clear she's confused, so Sayo takes her phone out and shows the face to her. Yukina nods, understanding what Sayo is trying to get at.

"She does have that face." Yukina agrees before frowning. "She also looks like that...term you keep saying."

Lisa grins from ear to ear. "What word?"

"I told you just moments ago, but it seems it bears repeating. I will  _ never _ say that word." Lisa just laughs at her reaction, making Yukina roll her eyes. "Is that why you always draw that face everywhere?"

"The colon three face or the uwu face?"

"...both."

"Not really? I think it looks cute, but I didn't think I looked like that." Lisa laughs sheepishly. She glances at the clock and hums thoughtfully. "Are you done with classes for the day? Aside from the class we have at 12pm."

Yukina shakes her head. "I have one more at 4pm."

"Ah, that's right~. I should really start to remember everyone's schedule so I can plan some house activities. We should just post our schedules on the group chat." Lisa muses before turning to Sayo. "What about you?"

"I have class at 11am and then at 3pm." Sayo says.

"Hm~. I've got class at 1pm and then at 3pm." Lisa slumps against Yukina. "One hour gaps are the worst~. If I go home, I only have like 20 minutes to chill before going back to campus, so it's better if I just stay on campus." Lisa complains. "But it's so hot~. I don't wanna stay on campus."

"It's something we need to get used to, seeing as we don't live on campus." Sayo responds. "But the commuter parking lot is a bit far from campus, which is unideal considering the heat nowadays."

"Right~? They should've made the parking lot closer." Lisa grumbles. She picks up the TV remote and continues switching the channels. When the screen flickers to a documentary of cats, Yukina quickly places a hand on Lisa's arm.

"Don't change the channel." Yukina commands and Lisa snickers. "Leave me alone. Cats are adorable."

"They are~." Lisa agrees with amusement. "What about you, Sayo?"

"I prefer dogs over cats." Sayo answers, and Lisa inwardly giggles when her eyes are focused on the screen. "Though I must admit cats are cute as well."

Lisa laughs and they watch the cat documentary. Yukina comments on certain breeds every now and then, and Lisa can't help but coo and awe. Cats are just so precious!

When the oven rings, Lisa stands up. "I'll go take the cookies out~." She goes to the kitchen and puts on her gloves. She takes out the tray from the oven and places it on the counter. She hums in satisfaction before carefully placing the cookies onto a plate. When she brings the cookies over to the living room to place it on the dining table, she glances at Yukina and Sayo.

She smiles softly to herself when she sees Yukina enthusiastically (in a Yukina way, of course) talking about cats and Sayo nodding along. The two share a chuckle when a cat pounces and falls off a table, and Lisa feels her heart warm.

Yukina is quite similar to Sayo. She seems intimidating, and her monotone voice doesn't really help her in that regard. As a result, it's hard for her to make friends. But seeing her comfortably talking about cats with Sayo makes Lisa happy. 

If she were still in high school, she'd probably feel jealous over Yukina displaying attention to others that aren't her, but she's all grown up now. After everything they've gone through together, she's learned that Yukina's happiness is all that matters. And she knows Yukina feels the same.

"Hey~, the cookies are ready." Lisa announces and laughs when the two immediately stand up and turn off the TV. They make their way over the table and Lisa can't help but smile when their eyes are fixated on the cookies.

"They smell wonderful." Yukina notes and Sayo nods in agreement.

"Since our break time is technically over, we should start studying again." Sayo brings up and Lisa playfully rolls her eyes.

"It's always school with you, huh."

"Ah, if the two of you are studying here, then I suppose I can study here as well." Yukina speaks up, grabbing a cat-shaped cookie before getting up. "Give me a moment to gather my belongings."

She leaves Lisa and Sayo alone at the table. Sayo starts to take her things out of her backpack and organizes her papers. Lisa reluctantly goes back to reading her textbook, noting sections as diligently as she can.

Yukina is back within moments. She takes her favorite seat and begins studying as well. The three work quietly, but Lisa finds the silence comfortable. There's no sounds to be heard other than the flipping of a textbook, or the scratching of a pen. But eventually, Lisa and Yukina leave for their class and say their farewells to Sayo.

And as Lisa drives towards school with Yukina by her side, she thinks about her current situation and how she wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

"And then Hina-chan just laughs at me and runs away! She's so mean~."

"Well, you  _ are _ dating her, so I'm not surprised."

Lisa and Aya share a laugh over Hina's latest antics. Lisa has less than an hour to kill before her next class and she knows that Aya does too, so they're at the coffee shop on campus. Despite the rush hour, they are able to get a table to talk and pass the time.

"So how's it like living with Sayo-chan?" Aya asks curiously before taking a sip of her drink. "Is she studying like always?"

"Yep~. I'm surprised she doesn't have white hair by now. She's studious to a fault, and I'm worried she might get sick." Lisa confides and Aya frowns in concern. 

"That's no good! I used to come over sometimes back when Chisato-chan lived with her and she was always studying in her room. She only went outside to use the restroom or to leave for class." Aya recounts and Lisa blinks in surprise. Chisato was her old roommate? "Well, she also came out whenever Chisato-chan decided to bring Leon around. It's kinda cute to see her fawn over him."

"She used to live with Chisato?" Lisa questions, still trying to wrap her head around Sayo and Chisato living together, and Aya nods vigorously.

"They went to the same high school." Aya proceeds to look around as if she were divulging top secret information before whispering, "I just found out recently they used to be together."

Lisa gapes at that. Sayo and Chisato? Dating? She never heard about this.

"Wait really?"

"Yeah, yeah! I heard a little bit from Kanon-chan. She told me it was during their last year of high school, but they broke it off in the middle of their first year of college." Aya continues in a low voice. "Apparently, it was more of a 'stress thing' rather than a serious relationship, but they still went out and did relationship things together." Aya pauses momentarily to take a bite out of her sandwich. "I don't know how you can live with your ex, even if it wasn't serious in the first place. I feel like that'd be awkward."

Lisa feels like she should feel at the very least envious, but she's not. Chisato is a good friend, and Sayo is close to becoming one. Maybe it's because their relationship wasn't serious in the first place, but Lisa likes to think it's because she does  _ not _ have a crush on Hikawa Sayo.

Lisa hums thoughtfully. "That's crazy, but I guess I kind of see it. They're both similar, now that I think about it." Lisa eats the rest of her croissant before washing it down with her coffee. 

"Right? I bet they used to be the designated power couple in high school." Aya adds before sighing dreamily. "They're both so cool and pretty~."

Lisa laughs at her comment. "You're definitely right on that." She sips on her coffee again and holds back a groan when her stomach rumbles. It seems like her croissant wasn't enough of a snack. "But yeah, I've been trying to get her to relax by asking her to bake with me. It's only week two and she already has bags under her eyes."

"Really?"

"Yup. You know, I actually didn't notice she was Hina's sister when I first met her." Lisa mentions with a sheepish smile.

Aya giggles. "Seriously? They're identical twins."

Lisa pouts. "I know! I mean, I was kind of surprised when I first met her, so I guess I didn't notice." Aya raises her eyebrows when she sees Lisa lightly blush. But then Aya's mouth drops, prompting Lisa to give her a pointed look. "Don't. Say. It."

"Oh my god you have a crush on Sayo-chan~!" Aya gushes and Lisa groans. She lays her head face down on the table and Aya giggles. "You're completely okay that she used to be with Chisato?"

Lisa straightens her posture, directing a pointed look at Aya. "Yes, I don't mind. Which is why I  _ don't  _ have a crush on her." Aya just snickers. The blush on Lisa's face completely gives her away. 

"Sayo-chan is super hot isn't she~."

Lisa groans again and slumps against her chair, her arms crossed as she sulks. "Should I be telling Hina that you think her sister is hot?" Lisa mumbles.

"Well, I think Hina-chan is hot and they're identical twins, so~."

"I don't have a crush on her! This is just pure physical attraction." Lisa argues but Aya doesn't buy it. 

It's not common for Lisa to get embarrassed so easily after all, especially given her confidence when talking to attractive people. Aya can't count all the times she lost Lisa in a party only to find her dancing with some random cutie. Not to mention the times she'd catch her come out of a bathroom hanging onto someone with several hickies on her neck. 

Lisa sighs in exasperation at the unconvinced look on Aya's face, but she continues, "Sayo is actually pretty nice though. She made lunch for everyone yesterday, and she helps me out with baking sometimes."

Aya gasps before leaning towards Lisa. "Aw, that's really nice! At least she can cook. I love Hina-chan to death, but she's banned from the kitchen." Aya comments and Lisa laughs.

She's not surprised. Hina  _ did _ mix salt, sugar, black pepper, and vinegar together for a meal she was making because she wanted to give it a boppin' flavor that's salty, sweet, spicy, and sour. Of course, that turned out terribly and poor Eve actually took a bite.

"It's nice to know that Sayo-chan is doing good though! Well, a lot better than when she lived with Chisato-chan." Aya can tell Lisa doesn't want to admit her crush, so she decides to change the topic. "How's Yukina-chan?"

Lisa smiles widely at the mention of her best friend. "She's doing great. It was a good idea to have Ako and Rinko live with us." Lisa answers and Aya gives her a questioning look. "It helps that she's friends with them already, and I guess she got curious about the game they play because she started an NFO account." Lisa giggles as she recalls the scene of an overexcited Ako gushing to Sayo about it. "I guess I am too. We're all gonna play tomorrow night."

"That's so cute~!" Aya exclaims before pouting. "I wish I could hang out with my housemates more, but they're always so busy. Chisato-chan told me she's thinking about taking her job more seriously, so she might actually drop out."

"Really?"

"Yeah! She said she'll still live with us because the agency building isn't too far from here, but I'm gonna miss her if she starts to take up more work."

"I mean, that's good for her though~. She earns a lot from her job right?"

"She does! Oh my gosh, Lisa-chan, what if she becomes famous and leaves us in the dust!" Aya starts to tear up but Lisa shakes her head.

"She's not that type of person. You guys have been supporting her for so long after all."

Aya sniffs. "You're right."

The two continue to talk more about everything and anything. They gossip about the latest news and fashion trends. They complain about the work they have to do and how some professors are harsher than others. But when the door opens and Lisa catches a flash of teal, she immediately looks over. She notices Sayo and tries to wave her over. 

When they make eye contact, Lisa beams. She doesn't notice the microscopic smile appear on Sayo's face, but Aya does. She checks Lisa's reaction only to be disappointed when it's obvious she doesn't notice the change in Sayo's behavior. Aya figures it's because she's known Sayo longer.

"Sayo!" Lisa calls and Sayo walks over to the table. "You decided not to go back home?"

Sayo shakes her head. "I figured I could study a bit more at the library before getting some coffee." She turns to Aya and greets, "Good afternoon, Maruyama-san."

"Hi Sayo-chan! Wanna sit with us?" Aya offers and Sayo nods.

"Thank you." She sets her things down next to Lisa. "I'm going to order something, so I'll be back."

"We'll be waiting!" Aya cheerfully replies. When Sayo leaves, Aya gives Lisa a teasing smile and Lisa glares at her. "I know, I won't say anything." She pauses for a moment before continuing, "Except that you can probably help her relax in  _ some other ways _ —"

Lisa quickly reaches over to slap Aya, who bursts into laughter. Hina is a terrible influence on her.

Aya makes a motion of zipping her mouth shut and Lisa huffs. "I won't say any more~!"

"You better."

"Hehe~." Aya's phone pings and she looks at the message. She looks dumbfounded for a moment before giving her phone to Lisa, "Oh my god you have to see this!"

Lisa takes the device and looks at the messages and pictures before dropping her jaw. "Maya asked Eve out?!"

The two look at each other before squealing. As quietly as they can, of course. They're in a public place after all.

"Oh my god no way!"

"That's so cute!"

"Where? When? We need details!"

"It finally happened oh my gosh!"

They both continue to gush over the news until Sayo comes back. She looks at the two quizzically, wondering why they are so excited.

"Sayo! Maya finally asked Eve out!" Lisa exclaims as Sayo takes a seat.

"Is that so? Congratulations for both of them, I guess." Sayo responds before taking a sip of her coffee. As she takes out her laptop, Lisa pouts.

"Eh? What's with that reaction?"

Sayo blinks. "I truly am happy for them." She starts typing away on her laptop. "To be honest, I expected this to happen earlier. Don't they live with you?" Sayo looks at Aya, who starts jumping in her seat. 

"They do! But they're both still kind of awkward around each other in the cutest way ever!" Aya sighs dreamily. "It's like I'm seeing two high schoolers in love all over again. And it's so obvious Maya-chan has a crush on Eve-chan."

"Indeed. Hina used to complain about it to me all the time." Sayo chuckles. "To think Wakamiya-san is that oblivious."

Lisa claps her hands excitedly. "Remember when Maya gave Eve flowers for her birthday? She even had it made from Ran's place!"

"And Eve-chan thought it was just a thing friends do." Aya giggles. "But like, Eve-chan was super obvious about her crush on Maya-chan too."

"She's always treating her out, if I remember correctly." Sayo adds with amusement. 

"Gosh, it's just so cute! I'm so happy both of their efforts finally paid off." Aya adds.

They spend some time talking about the two, recalling all the different times one would flirt with the other only to miss the signs. After a couple more moments of gossiping, which Sayo is surprisingly taking part of, Sayo's alarm rings. She blinks and turns it off. Lisa checks her own phone and sees that it's 15 minutes before her next class.

"We should probably get going." Lisa mentions and Aya nods. Sayo quickly finishes her drink before putting her things away.

"I almost forgot I had class! Where are you guys going?" Aya responds as she packs up her things.

"University Hall." Lisa responds and Sayo blinks in surprise.

"I'm going to Skye. They're close to each other, so would you like to walk together?" Sayo asks and Lisa smiles at the chance of spending more time with Sayo.

"Sure!"

Aya pouts. "Aw, I have my sociology class at the Economics building." The three exit the coffee shop and Aya groans lightly at the notable temperature difference. "Well I guess I'll see you guys next time! We should do this again~."

Lisa grins and gives Aya a quick hug because it's too hot for anything longer than one second. "Of course!"

Aya turns to Sayo and smiles widely. "You too Sayo-chan!" She moves to give her a hug as well, and Sayo is too shocked to return it.

Sayo blushes lightly, but is able to give Aya a small smile. "I suppose I will be there as well, Maruyama-san."

Aya giggles before sending Lisa a discreet wink. "Bye~!" She starts heading to her class, so Lisa and Sayo start walking towards theirs.

"Gosh, it's really hot isn't it?" Lisa comments as she fans herself.

"Indeed."

There's a moment of silence before Lisa breaks it. "So, what are you thinking for dinner?"

Sayo hums thoughtfully. "Do we have the ingredients for tonkatsu? I think Udagawa-san said she was craving it earlier."

"We do! I know how to make it as well, so tonkatsu it is~." Lisa playfully nudges Sayo's shoulder. "Wanna help me out tonight? After you finish your report of course~."

Sayo's eyes crinkle in amusement. " _ If _ I finish my report."

Lisa laughs as she waves at someone she knows before giving Sayo a knowing look. "Come on, I'm sure you finished it in the library already, and all you have to do now is proofread it three times."

"Five, actually." Sayo corrects and Lisa gives her a baffled look, making her chuckle. "I was joking. I only proofread my reports two times." 

Lisa lightly slaps her arm as she giggles. "I didn't think you had it in you to joke around."

"I'm not that uptight." Sayo comments with an amused huff. She watches silently when Lisa greets another person and continues, "You seem to know a lot of people." Sayo mentions. "I'm not surprised."

"Oh? How come?" Lisa asks as they reach the fork that separates the buildings they need to get to.

Sayo stops walking. "I've told you before, Imai-san. I've never met anyone as friendly or sociable as you." Sayo is smiling at her, and Lisa isn't sure if her face is warm because of the heat or the beautiful woman in front of her.

"I've never met someone like you either." Lisa responds with a teasing grin. "Well-mannered, studious,  _ and _ drop-dead gorgeous." Sayo blushes at her compliment, making Lisa laugh. "It's the truth~."

Sayo shakes her head, chuckling at her antics. She shifts so that she can lean on one leg and stares into Lisa's eyes, as if she can see right through her. "Then I must add that you're radiantly divine, lovely to be around, and a sight for sore eyes." 

Lisa gapes and lightly hits Sayo's arm again. She's the one blushing now, and it's definitely not because of the temperature. "That's unfair~!" Sayo just continues to smile at her, so she pouts.

"You started it." Sayo points out and Lisa rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. You should head to class before all the good seats are taken."

"You as well, Imai-san."

Lisa doesn't know why, but she feels compelled to hug Sayo like she hugged Aya. So she does, and Sayo surprisingly reciprocates it. When she pulls away, she gives her a bright smile.

"See you later~!"

"Until next time."

And as Lisa walks towards her next class, she doesn't catch the pink dust on Sayo's face.

* * *

"I'm home~!" Lisa greets as she walks inside, sighing blissfully as she feels the cold air. She arrived a bit later than she wanted to, having had an impromptu lunch with Aya after her class was done.

"Welcome back." Both Yukina and Sayo reply and Lisa blinks in surprise when she sees them at the dining table. She expected the two to be in their rooms like usual.

"Are you two studying?" Lisa asks as she takes off her shoes and Yukina nods. "Cute~. I'm gonna go shower real quick and then I'll join you two!"

"We'll be waiting." Sayo responds as she edits away on her laptop. Yukina just hums in acknowledgement, too focused on reading her textbook to give an actual answer.

As soon as Lisa is done showering, she quickly brushes her hair and gathers her belongings. When she goes downstairs, she makes eye contact with Sayo and smiles. She watches Sayo's drift downwards before quickly moving back to her laptop, a small blush on her face.

Lisa tilts her head in confusion. She's just wearing a shirt and—ah. She forgot she's wearing actual bootyshorts, so it looks like she's  _ only  _ wearing a shirt. She flushes slightly before taking her usual seat next to Sayo.

Yukina watches the exchange with suspicious eyes, but decides not to say anything. She just continues to write and review her notes.

"So how was your day?" Lisa questions and the two grunt. "Wow, so interesting~."

"Today's been whatever." Yukina answers before slumping onto the table. "I can't do it. I can't read anymore." She takes her phone out and starts watching cat videos at a reasonable volume. When Sayo gives her a look, she says, "I need to recharge. Leave me alone." Sayo chuckles at her behaviour before continuing to edit her report.

"So," Lisa starts as she gives Sayo a teasing smile, "what proofread iteration are you on?" 

"The first." Sayo answers and Lisa giggles.

"Well, you're almost done~." Lisa takes out her notebook and starts writing on it. "Yukina, did you hear about Maya and Eve?"

"Yeah. It finally happened." Yukina's face softens when the cat on her phone meows. "Apparently Aoba-san won a bet from that."

Lisa laughs. "To think she'd get the exact date down to the hour. That's ridiculously accurate, even for her."

The conversation dies, but it's not awkward, not that it ever is. Lisa and Sayo continue to work in silence, although there is the occasional meow coming from Yukina's phone. Eventually, Yukina has enough energy to start studying again. After about an hour, Lisa gets up and stretches. Her shirt lifts up slightly, and she doesn't notice Sayo looking.

Yukina does. As Lisa's best friend, she glares at her. Sayo freezes, but she looks back at Yukina with the same intensity, trying to tell her with her expression that it was just an accident. Yukina doesn't get the memo.

"I'm gonna go get some orange juice. Do you two want some?" Lisa offers. She looks at her two friends only to see them staring at each other. She blinks in confusion. "Uh, hello?"

Yukina breaks off the staring contest. "Yes, I would love some."

"I'm fine." Sayo says. Lisa shrugs and goes to the kitchen, humming a popular song that Aya always sings.

"Were you checking Lisa out?" Yukina accuses in a low tone once Lisa is gone and Sayo blushes.

Sayo clears her throat. "It was an accident, Minato-san. It won't happen again." Sayo promises but Yukina huffs.

"I don't care about that." Yukina responds and Sayo looks at her in surprise. "What I do care about is Lisa's feelings." She inches closer to Sayo with a threatening look, and Sayo has to avoid flinching at the glare on her face. "I swear to the cat gods that I'll kill you if you hurt her."

Sayo raises her hands up in defense, feeling as if Yukina would put her in a (very weak) chokehold if she didn't. "I-It's not like that." Yukina gives her a dubious look. "Really. It's just…"

"Just what?" Yukina asks intimidatingly and Sayo gulps. Sure Yukina is weak and a punch from her probably wouldn't even hurt, but she looks absolutely  _ terrifying _ right now.

"I-It's not like I...like her or anything. I just think she's...attractive." Sayo admits with much difficulty. 

Yukina squints at her. "So what you're saying is that you're into her because of how she looks?" 

"No!" Sayo exclaims in a low tone, wondering why Lisa is taking so long getting juice. "I can't really describe it, Minato-san. I don't understand it myself. I care for her—as a friend!—but for some reason, I find myself...looking at her more often." Sayo coughs. "Besides, we haven't known each other for very long."

When Lisa's hums get closer, Yukina sighs and decides to leave Sayo alone. She's been meaning to talk to Sayo about her intentions with Lisa considering the fact that the two have gotten close over the past couple of weeks.

It's not that Yukina wants to cockblock her best friend. She knows how relationships work—you either spend the rest of your life together or break up. Most people usually get together because they start to have feelings but abandon ship because affection is different from love. 

Lisa does that. A lot. And while she seems unaffected by it, Yukina has noticed that she doesn't seem to go out of her way to get together with someone anymore, and she suspects it's because she's looking for something more serious. She can tell that Lisa is genuinely happy for their friends who are in a relationship. But sometimes, she catches her looking at them wistfully, as if she too wants to experience such blissful feelings.

If the two were to get together only to break up, then that would make things awkward in the house. Even if they were to break up after the lease is over, they are still part of the same social group. After all, Lisa is good friends with Hina, and Sayo seems to be getting closer with both Ako and Rinko. If they become awkward with each other, then that feeling will leak to their friends.

Even then, Sayo is a very serious person. She knows of her past relationship with Chisato, and she also knows that Sayo doesn't want to waste her time with puppy love anymore. And if Lisa is also looking for something serious, then things will end up terribly for the two of them if they were to break up.

Yukina frowns slightly, knowing that she's being a bit harsh on Sayo, but it is for the sake of her best friend, the overall relationship of their housemates, and their social group. She doesn't want anyone taking sides if they break up. Sure, they might be one of those couples who can still be friends after a breakup, but she doesn't want to risk it. And despite all the thoughts running around in her head, she knows that this isn't the right time to talk to Sayo about it. 

"Fine. We'll talk about this another time." Yukina states, taking a deep breath in order to calm herself. 

She usually doesn't get riled up when it comes to Lisa's love interests, but this time is different. Her best friend is into one of her close friends, and it seems like the feeling is mutual. Of course she wants them to be happy, but she also wants to make sure that what they're feeling is strong enough to be long term. She doesn't plan on not being Lisa's best friend or Sayo's close friend anytime soon, and she definitely doesn't plan on taking sides should things go awry.

Lisa comes back shortly after with two glasses of juice. She stops when the air around Yukina and Sayo seems tense. "Hey, I, uh, got your juice." Lisa says as she gives Yukina the glass.

"Thank you." Yukina takes a sip before reading her notes.

Lisa blinks, not knowing why the two suddenly seem awkward. "Something happen while I was gone?" Lisa asks as she sits down. Sayo pointedly ignores the two of them, keeping her eyes on her laptop.

"Nothing happened, Imai-san." Sayo responds, as stiff as a board. Yukina bites back a sigh and places her pen down.

Yukina gives Sayo a meaningful look. "Everything's fine." Yukina agrees, trying to tell Sayo that she's actually not mad. Sayo finally looks at her and relaxes a little, thinking that Yukina's reaction to her admission was just her being a good best friend.

"Hm, okay~." Lisa responds dubiously but before she can say anymore, they hear a knock on their door. "Who could that be?" Lisa wonders aloud as she walks over and opens the door, revealing a grinning Himari.

"Lisa-chan!" Himari exclaims and Lisa smiles widely.

"Himari!" She lets Himari in, who immediately hugs her once she's inside. She catches a small flash of red and blinks. "Ran?"

Yukina abruptly looks up at the mention of Ran's name. She turns to Sayo in slight panic. "Do I look okay?" Yukina whispers, frowning when Sayo snickers. It's not often one sees Yukina turn into a gay disaster after all. "Sayo."

"You look fine, Minato-san. You need not worry." Sayo reassures, but that doesn't stop Yukina from discreetly fixing her clothes. "Truly. You look as beautiful as ever."

"I always forget about your honeyed words." Yukina mumbles under her breath.

"It's the truth."

Yukina blinks at Lisa's usual catchphrase before inwardly shaking her head. She can deal with Lisa and Sayo's ambiguous relationship later. She has more pressing matters right now.

"What are you two doing here?" Lisa asks as she lets Ran in and closes the door.

"We've been meaning to visit~." Himari responds cheerfully and Lisa quirks up an eyebrow, giving Ran a questioning look.

"What?"

"Nothing!" Lisa exclaims with a sheepish laugh. "I mean, I expected something like this from Himari."

Ran huffs. "We're friends too." She mutters, a light blush on her face.

"Indeed." Sayo calls out from her position at the table. "Good afternoon Mitake-san, Uehara-san."

"Heya Sayo-san~." Himari greets warmly as she skips over to her. Lisa blinks at her familiarity with Sayo. Did everyone else know her before she did? "What are you guys up to?"

"We were studying." Sayo replies as she gestures towards her laptop and notebook.

"Ah, sorry for interrupting!" Himari apologizes but Sayo waves her off.

"It's fine, really."

Lisa walks over to them with Ran in tow. She holds back a grin when Ran makes eye-contact with Yukina.

"Minato-san."

"Mitake-san."

The two avert their eyes and focus on something else, their posture as rigid as a statue. The whole scene makes Lisa want to laugh. She really needs to teach her best friend how to flirt one day, otherwise she's going to be pining for Ran for the rest of her life.

"Did the two of you come here to hang out?" Lisa asks as she bumps her hips with Himari's and Himari shakes her head. She gives Lisa a very subtle wink and everything clicks.

"We just wanted to see you, it's been a while." Himari replies with a grin, wrapping an arm around hers. "How have you all been?"

Lisa leans against her and grins. "It's been fun. We made cookies earlier."

Himari pouts. "Eh~. You didn't save any for me?"

"I didn't know you were coming." Lisa says with a giggle. "Next time give me a heads up, I'll make a batch just for you~."

"Aw, you're the best!" Himari exclaims as she moves to hug Lisa. "What about you two?"

"The usual." Yukina answers with a monotone voice. She seems to be calm and collected on the outside, but she's actually freaking out. Her crush is here, in her home, and she's sure she looks unsightly. She came back from class earlier, so her hair is probably messed up or something.

"It is as Minato-san says." Sayo adds, making Lisa sigh in exasperation.

"All you two do is study." Lisa says but falters. "Well, Yukina has an unhealthy obsession with watching cat videos but still."

"L-Lisa!" Yukina exclaims with a blush, and Ran finally looks at her. When she sees how uncharacteristically embarrassed Yukina is, her expression softens and she stares at her as if she were the most beautiful woman in the world. That is, until Himari breaks apart from Lisa to nudge her shoulder.

"R-Right." Ran coughs. "Minato-san." Yukina turns to her and she feels her own face redden at her intense gaze. "I was wondering if you would like to, uh," Ran looks to Himari for help, but she just gestures for her to continue, "help me study for my 120 midterm. You've taken the class before so I, um, thought you can give me some pointers."

Yukina is stunned into silence at the offer. She blinks, wondering if Ran really did ask her that. But then Sayo lightly kicks her foot, bringing Yukina back to reality.

Yukina clears her throat. "Of course. I will text you when I am available."

"Shouldn't the two of you decide now, since you're both here?" Lisa brings up with a knowing look and Yukina flinches. 

Lisa is right. If Yukina were to text her, it probably would happen much later that night, when she's able to calm herself down. She doesn't like making people wait, especially Ran, so it's best if she does this now.

"How about the day after tomorrow? Sundays are usually when I catch up on my work." Yukina points out and Ran nods.

"Sure." Ran mumbles, looking up to hesitantly look Yukina in the eyes, and Yukina is star-struck.

Himari claps excitedly, breaking off their staring contest. "Well! That's all settled~." She gives the three an apologetic look. "I really want to stay and hang out with you guys but we gotta get going. Tsugu's coming back from work soon and we're all gonna play board games."

"Have fun~." Lisa says as she leads them outside.

"You as well, Lisa-san." Ran responds politely. "Until next time, Sayo-san," Ran looks at Yukina and flushes lightly, "Minato-san."

The two leave and once Lisa closes the door, she turns around only to see her best friend face down on the table. She laughs as she walks towards her. She pokes her arm only to get a groan in response. When she continues her barrage, Yukina slaps her hand away.

"Was I being obvious?" Yukina asks as she peeks up. "I was being obvious, right?"

Sayo gives Lisa an incredulous look to which Lisa shrugs. "No you weren't. Now, now. You've finally scored a date with Ran~. You should be happy."

Yukina blushes and crosses her arms. "It's not a date. It's a study session."

"Yeah. Sure." Lisa says dubiously. "Come on, you'll get some alone time with her. You should make a move."

Sayo chuckles when Yukina's blush intensifies. "Imai-san is right. As much as I treasure our friendship, seeing you malfunction around Mitake-san is quite sad." Sayo observes and Yukina frowns. 

"I'm not  _ that _ bad." Yukina sighs. "Besides, does Mitake-san even like me back?"

Lisa inwardly facepalms. It is so obvious that the two came over just so Ran could ask Yukina out on a "study session".

"You must get a grip of yourself, Minato-san. It is clear Mitake-san feels the same." Sayo reassures and Yukina slumps into her seat.

"Sayo's right." Lisa adds with a warm smile as she sits on her seat. "You don't have to worry~. Just be your cute lovable self and I'm sure she'll be head over heels for you."

"Even more than she is." Sayo mutters under her breath and Lisa lightly slaps her. "What? I'm right."

"Sayo is right about what?" Yukina asks, but Sayo averts her eyes.

"Nothing, nothing~." Lisa diverts. "Anyways, we should get back to work." Lisa looks at her laptop and bites back a sigh. "Looks like I have 2 more chapters after this."

"I'm almost done with my first proofread." Sayo comments, getting up momentarily to crack her back. "I'll be back. I'm going to get my hydroflask."

"Okay~."

Sayo leaves Lisa and Yukina alone. Lisa can tell that Yukina is anxious about her upcoming "date" with Ran, so she gets up and wraps an arm around her.

"You'll be fine." Lisa comforts.

"How can you be so sure? What if this is just puppy love?"

Lisa opens her mouth but stops. She gets a real good look at Yukina, noting that she almost seems scared. She's not surprised—Yukina never really felt anything close to romantic love. Back in high school, when everyone was gushing about romance and dating, she never had a crush on anyone, much less an interest.

So when one day during their second year in college Yukina says she met someone interesting, Lisa was surprised. They talked about this person, and it was weeks later that Lisa realized she actually knew who she was talking about. Ever since then, she tried bringing the two closer. They eventually exchanged phone numbers and became friends, but not much happened after that.

Lisa herself doesn't know what it's like to truly be in love. Sure, she's dated people before, chasing that fleeting emotion called love. But in the end, it wasn't what she was looking for—what she felt was just puppy love. Despite being inexperienced with the feeling, she knows what Yukina is feeling is love.

There are so many pointers. It shows in the way that Yukina is able to be so soft to someone that's not her or a cat. It shows in the way Yukina started to take the initiative to be a bit more social. It shows in the way Yukina's overall mood brightens after she comes home from a rare outing with Ran.

Hell, Lisa can probably argue that Ran changed her for the better. Since they're in the same major, they would compete over who got the better score, pushing Yukina to aim higher when it comes to her studies. 

And if that isn't love, Lisa doesn't know what love is.

"You've changed, Yukina." Lisa starts gently. "You've changed for the better. That's how I know this isn't puppy love. No one would change in the ways you have if it were. You've become more social, you care more about your studies, and you even laugh a lot more now. Ran has changed you more than I have in just a year."

"And I know Ran feels the same. I've never seen here get so flustered over someone." Yukina looks at her curiously, but Lisa can tell that she's still doubtful. "Seriously, just trust me on this."

"I know that you'll be fine." Lisa reiterates softly as she reaches to grasp her hand. Yukina gives her a vulnerable look, and Lisa feels her heart melt. "Whatever happens, I'll be here for you." She gives Yukina a hug, squeezing her tighter when she feels her shake.

Yukina takes in a deep breath. "Thank you, Lisa. I've never felt this way before."

"I know." Lisa mumbles before pulling away. "Im serious, though. You have nothing to worry about."

Yukina finally cracks a small smile. "Everyone keeps telling me that, so I suppose there may be some truth to that."

Lisa rolls her eyes, wondering why her best friend is so dense. She goes back to her seat just as Sayo comes back.

"That took a while." Yukina comments as she resumes reading her textbook.

"I was looking for my pencil case." Sayo responds, noting that Yukina is visibly more relaxed. "Are you feeling better, Minato-san?"

"Whatever do you mean?" Yukina simply replies, making Sayo chuckle. She shoots Lisa a questioning look and Lisa winks in response.

Ako and Rinko decide to open the front door at that moment, the former groaning loudly as soon as she gets inside. "Ako can't handle this heat!" Ako complains as she shuts the door. When she sees the three situated at the table, she immediately recovers her energy. "Oh my gosh, are you guys having a study sesh?"

"We are." Sayo answers with amusement. Only Ako would get overexcited over such a trivial thing. Not that that was bad. Sometimes, her energy tends to drain Sayo's, but in times like these it does the opposite.

"Ooo! Ako wants to join!"

"I have my laptop...with me too." Rinko softly adds. "I have a...coding assignment...due tomorrow."

"And Ako has calculus." Ako makes a face. "Bleh."

The two sit at their usual seats and Lisa smiles warmly. It's nice when everyone is together. It's as if they're slowly becoming a second family, and the thought makes Lisa undeniably happy to the bottom of her heart. They all start to do their work as Ako rambles about something interesting she came across.

"And then she ran away with bread in her mouth!"

Lisa giggles. "Like a stereotypical anime girl." She glances at Sayo, who is frowning at her screen. Well, that's her cue to turn that frown upside down.

"Hey Sayo," Lisa starts and Sayo hums, "I need a little help with something."

Sayo stops what she's doing at her unusual request. "Sure? Depends on what it is."

Lisa tries to bite back a shit-eating grin. Seeing Ako do her homework is what inspired her after all.

"I need a little help with my calculus. Can you integrate my natural log?" Lisa asks innocently as she points to her textbook and Sayo's eyebrows furrow in confusion. Meanwhile, Rinko instantly understands and blushes whereas Ako and Yukina are confused.

"Imai-san, this is a medical—oh." Sayo blushes when she understands her pickup line, and her reaction makes everything click for Ako.

Ako laughs boisterously. "Lisa-nee, that's hilarious!"

"Aha, Moca taught me that one."

Yukina blinks owlishly. "I don't get it."

"Oh man." Ako says as she wipes her tears. "Okay, so, Yukina-san, you know what integrate means right?"

"The word or the math term?"

"The word."

"Then yes, I do know what integrate means."

"So, natural log in that sentence means…"

Ako proceeds to explain the joke to Yukina, who flushes once she understands. She glares at Lisa, who's doing her best to hold in her laughter. "Lisa. I did not know you had such a dirty mind."

"But Moca's the one who taught me that line." Lisa waves her off with a teasing smile. "Besides, you've made out with me once. I thought you'd know by now."

"I'm sorry what?" Sayo asks in disbelief and Lisa hums as she recounts the memory.

"Yeah, Yukina and I were dared to kiss at the one time she accompanied me to a party. We were drunk, and I tend to, uh,"

"Escalate things." Yukina answers for her and Lisa smiles sheepishly.

"So yeah, it got a bit heated. Even though she's new to it, she's actually pretty good." Lisa blows a kiss to Yukina, who catches it before pretending to crush it. "Ouch, no need to be so rude honey~."

"Is it not...awkward between you two?" Sayo asks and Yukina shakes her head.

"Not at all." Yukina answers truthfully. "Indeed, it was kind of weird when we came to our senses, but as pretty Lisa may be, she's not my type. Besides, Lisa is important to me, but the thought of being in a romantic relationship with never crossed my mind."

Lisa grins widely. "Yep! Yukina's type is short, black hair with a red—ow!" Lisa rubs her arm in mock pain when Yukina slaps her. "Meanie~."

Ako snickers but stops for a moment. "What's your type, Lisa-nee?" Ako questions curiously and Lisa hums in thought.

"Looks are always a plus, but I don't care much for that. I like someone with a sense of humor and at least share some of the interests or hobbies that I have. Of course, they have to be kind and considerate, but they also have to be patient. I know I can be a bit too nosy sometimes, so I don't want to annoy them." Lisa confesses. "Gap moe is also very, very much appreciated." 

Ako finger guns Lisa, and Lisa returns the gesture. "Gap moe is a good one."

"Lisa tends to fall for the aloof, yet smooth types though." Yukina remarks, making Lisa blush and hit her lightly. "Why are you hitting me? You know I'm right."

Lisa doesn't want to admit that it's because Sayo basically fits all of her requirements. She chances a glance at Sayo, who, unbeknownst to her, is trying her hardest to maintain a straight face. But then Lisa blinks, thinking that this can be her chance to see if Sayo feels at least a little bit of attraction towards her. After all, if she shows a reaction, then Lisa might have a chance. As much as she doesn't want to admit that she doesn't like Sayo, the thought of dating someone like her is very appealing.

Of course, Lisa is thinking with her heart and not her brain at the moment. She's not thinking about the fact that she promised herself not to seek others out unless she feels something more tangible than her past relationships. So, she decides to go all in without thinking of the consequences.

"Being polite is also very much appreciated as well." Lisa adds and discreetly notes that the tips of Sayo's ears are (adorably) red. How curious.

"That sounds super cute! I hope you find your special someone soon~." Ako says and Rinko giggles quietly at how oblivious she is. "Reminds me of this dope NPC in NFO."

The conversation eventually switches to more of Ako's upbeat ramblings. Lisa tries to calm herself down and act normal as she listens and comments. Sayo's reaction earlier indicated, well,  _ something _ , and Lisa isn't sure what to think of it yet. If she was being obvious about her attraction towards her, then she hopes that she didn't make things awkward between them should it turn out that Sayo doesn't feel the same.

But as time passes by, she gets pulled into Ako's boisterous energy. When Rinko starts to speak up more, she reflects on the changes in the household. Their usually quiet study sessions are now filled with interesting stories and laughter. Even Rinko is surprisingly participating a lot more than usual.

And as Lisa sits back and listens to Ako's ramblings and Sayo's chuckles, she thinks about how happy she is to be living with them. She glances at Yukina, who shoots her a small smile, and Lisa knows that she, too, is content.

Lisa really wouldn't have this any other way.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my its finally here and its...around 9.5k long...
> 
> well, i apologize in advance for any grammar mistakes or awkward wordings because man these chapters are getting long as hell. i really wanted roselia to have a hangout together, so here is the nfo (and more) chapter
> 
> as always, i appreciate any comments and constructive criticisms~ hope yall enjoy!
> 
> stay safe too <3

Lisa wakes up groggily when she hears a knock on her door. She turns away to face the wall and clutches her pillow tightly, wishing the noises would stop. But the knocks persist and get louder, making Lisa grumble.

"Come in." Lisa calls out, her voice low and groggy from waking up. She turns back to face the door to see who it is, peeking up from underneath her blanket when Ako opens the door.

"Sorry Lisa-nee." Ako apologizes with a sheepish smile. "It's already 11am~! You sure slept in today, huh."

"It is?" Lisa grabs her phone and squints at it, groaning when she finds that it's a little past 11am. "I like to sleep in sometimes." Lisa pauses to yawn. "Gotta have my beauty sleep."

"Ako thinks Lisa-nee is plenty beautiful already~." Ako proclaims, making Lisa smile affectionately.

"You're so sweet Ako~." She throws her blanket off to the side and sits up, stretching and sighing in satisfaction when she feels something pop. "So what's up?"

"Today's our LAN party! Ako's so excited~." Ako energetically says with a wide grin. "Also, Ako started a Discord server, so Ako wants to teach Lisa-nee and Yukina how to use it. There's an app for the phones so we can use that instead of the group chat too! There's a bunch of cool extra things we can do on the server compared to the group chat."

Lisa hums thoughtfully. She vaguely knows what Discord is, but everything she knows are the little snippets of information Ako or Rinko tells her sometimes.

"Sure." Lisa rubs her eyes to try to wake herself up. "Do you think my laptop can handle the game though?"

Ako walks over to her desk. "Can Ako take a look at the specs?"

Lisa gets off of her bed and unlocks her laptop. "Go crazy." She stands next to Ako and takes the hydro flask she left on her desk, drinking it to hydrate herself while Ako clicks away on her laptop.

"Hm, should be fine~. Ako's gonna configure it like Yukina-san's so you don't lag."

While Ako downloads both the game and Discord on her laptop, Lisa starts her routine of making herself look presentable. She brushes her hair and looks for clothes to wear. Once her hair is straightened out, she tells Ako that she's going to take a quick shower.

Lisa goes to the bathroom and brushes her teeth before showering. Once she's done, she dries her hair before going to her room again. She brushes her hair again, humming lightly as Ako clicks away on her laptop.

"You're all set! Don't forget to bring your charger. It's gonna be so much fun playing with everyone!" Ako says, every inch of her being overflowing with excitement. Lisa can't help but smile warmly at how much Ako wants to spend time with the rest of the house. "Yukina-san should be downstairs."

"Okay~. Let's not keep her waiting."

"Roger, roger!"

Lisa takes her laptop, charger, and hydro flask before leaving her room. They go downstairs to find that Yukina and Sayo are both there with their laptops on the table. Sayo is leaning over Yukina as she carefully holds a cup of coffee, pointing at different parts of the screen as she talks. It seems like Sayo is also teaching Yukina the basics.

"Heya~." Lisa greets and the two nod in acknowledgement. She notes that Yukina also has a cup of coffee. "I swear you two are addicted to coffee."

"I drink real coffee." Sayo counters, ignoring Yukina's glare. "Whatever is in Minato-san's cup is not coffee."

"I'm almost afraid to look at our sugar jar." Lisa jokingly comments as she takes her seat and Ako giggles.

Ako takes a seat and gets on Discord. "Ako likes Yukina-san's coffee!"

"Glad to know that  _ someone _ is on my side." Yukina says sarcastically but Lisa rolls her eyes and opens her laptop.

"That's just cause Ako likes sugar almost as much as you do."

Sayo notices that Rinko still hasn't come down. "Is Shirokane-san still sleeping?" Sayo asks and Ako nods her head.

"She was up late last night grinding for some items for Yukina-san." Ako responds and Yukina's eyes widen slightly in surprise.

"That's very thoughtful of her. I will thank her once she is awake." Yukina says before taking a sip of her coffee. "Sayo taught me about Discord, but we have yet to talk about the game itself."

"I feel like Discord won't be that hard to learn." Lisa points out. "Isn't it just a more complicated version of Skype?"

"I think the more appropriate application for comparison would be Slack." Sayo replies and Lisa hums with understanding. "I assume you've used it before?"

"Yeah. One of my professors made us have one." Lisa replies as she creates a Discord account and joins Ako's server. She sees there are already different text channels for general chat, memes, and NFO tips. She clicks on the meme text channel and giggles when Ako's posted several cat memes already, to which Yukina reacted with hearts on every single one. "You're right, it's pretty similar to Slack."

"Then we can go straight to NFO!" Ako cheers and Lisa starts up the launcher. "What class are you thinking of doing?"

"I'm not sure." Lisa responds before pausing. "Is this a game where I need to click often?"

"No, but it will be harder to play if you don't have a mouse." Sayo answers and Lisa and Yukina's expressions drop, so she quickly continues, "I have a couple spares if the two of you need one."

"Really?" Lisa's eyes gleam brightly as she turns to Sayo. "Thanks Sayo~, you're the best!" 

Sayo blushes lightly at her praise and mumbles, "It's fine. Hina did call me overprepared."

"That's so true~. Ako's never seen so many instant noodles in a cupboard before." Ako comments and Sayo's blush intensifies.

Yukina notes Sayo's discomfort and changes the topic. "Lisa and I are not frequent gamers, so the mouse is much appreciated." Yukina adds, giving Sayo a moment to regain her composure. "Let me know how much it is, I know parts are pricey."

Sayo shakes her head. "It's fine. I've had mine for a couple of years, so I won't be needing those anytime soon."

"Aw, Sayo~." Lisa coos. "That's really nice of you."

Sayo coughs and sits down at her seat. "It's nothing." Her cheeks are painted a light pink, and Lisa thinks it's the most adorable thing ever.

"The two of you at least have earphones, right?" Ako questions and they nod. "Great! You're pretty much set then."

Lisa waits for the NFO launcher to load and awes when she sees how pretty the graphics are. "This is pretty cool!" She glances at Sayo's laptop before looking at her own. "I mean, the graphics are a bit bad on my laptop but it still looks nice."

"I decided to buy a gaming laptop for college so I can play on the highest quality." Sayo hums in amusement. "I knew I would be at the library often, so I decided to postpone building my own PC."

"That's a good idea. It's kind of expensive to build your own PC and buy a laptop for school." Lisa says but blinks and looks at Ako. "But Ako, don't you and Rinko have a PC and a laptop?"

"Yep! Our PCs are expensive as heck," Yukina tilts her head at the word, "but we both got laptops that are good enough to run NFO. It doesn't take that much to be honest."

"Heck?" Yukina asks and Ako giggles.

"Yeah, onee-chan doesn't like it when I swear."

"And Rinko doesn't?" Yukina questions incredulously.

Ako laughs. "You guys should hear her when she games. She mutters curse words in the cutest way ever~."

Lisa laughs along with her. She's not surprised. She's spent enough time around Ako and Rinko to hear them say words that would make Tomoe faint if she was there. Ako tries not to swear, but the words still come out whenever she gets frustrated. 

"Hm, what class should I choose?" Lisa wonders aloud as she looks at the various classes.

"Well, Yukina-san chose bard, which is basically a support, and Sayo-san is a tank so she's our designated meatshield. Rinrin is a fire wizard and Ako is a necromancer! We're pretty much the DPS, so it's up to what Lisa-nee wants to play."

"Can I be a healer? Or do we have enough support members?" Lisa asks, having enough knowledge about video games to know about party balance. After being friends with Ako and Rinko, she's picked up on enough terms. 

"Healer is fine. Udagawa-san and Shirokane-san have enough DPS for the three of us combined." Sayo pauses. "Unless Minato-san wants to be aggressive and build as a combat bard."

"I don't particularly care." Yukina responds with a shrug. "I just thought the lute was cute."

Lisa snickers, remembering that the lute has a chibi cat design. "That's so expected of you~." She chooses the healer class and a tutorial pops up. She breezes through it, trying her best to retain all the information. Once she lands in the first main area where all the new players spawn at, she gets a notification.

"There's an event going on, and the special item set for bards looks like a cat…" She glances at Yukina, who ignores her stare and makes herself busy with clicking on her laptop. "So, you thought the lute was cute?"

Yukina clears her throat. "I stand by my earlier statement."

Everyone shares a giggle over her obvious lie. The two more experienced players of NFO start to teach Lisa and Yukina the basics. They remind them of the various enemies and what they are either weak or resistant to. They also talk about other game logic more in depth than the tutorial did. By the time they've finished talking about the game mechanics, Rinko appears, rubbing an eye sleepily.

"Rinrin! You're awake!" Ako beams and Rinko smiles softly. When Ako rushes to hug her, she rests her chin on top of her head.

"Good morning." Rinko moves away slightly and Ako kisses her on the cheek, making Lisa coo over them.

"So cute!" Lisa whispers to Sayo, who smiles fondly at her two friends.

Ever since she found out that they play NFO, she knew that they would bond over the video game and become fast friends. When it's just the three of them at the house and they're all in the living room doing work, she never feels left out. Third-wheeling usually involves PDA that makes Sayo cringe, but Ako and Rinko are just so wholesome and precious that she doesn't mind. The two are adorable, like the videos of dogs cuddling with cats that Yukina shows her.

"It's afternoon now." Sayo corrects with amusement. "Shall we have lunch? I think Minato-san and Imai-san know enough about the game."

"Just in time." Lisa agrees. "We have sausages, so I can make those cute little octopus sausages~."

"That sounds super yummy!" Ako says as enthusiastically as ever.

"We should have some eggs too." Lisa hums thoughtfully and Ako pouts. "I know you don't like eggs, so I'll open another pack of sausages just for you." Ako brightens, making Lisa giggle. "You guys wait here, I'll start cooking."

"Are you...sure? I can help." Rinko asks but Lisa just smiles and waves her off.

"Of course! You guys are helping me out with NFO after all, it's the least I can do."

"What about Yukina-san?" Ako points out and Yukina blushes. "Sorry, didn't mean to call you out."

"It's fine. It's as Lisa said, so I suppose I can try to help her out."

Lisa smiles as she wraps her arm around Yukina's. "I do owe you a cooking lesson~."

"Let's just hope she doesn't forget everything we taught her about NFO." Sayo comments with amusement and Yukina huffs, breaking apart from Lisa to cross her arms.

"My memory is not that bad."

"Oh please, your knowledge of cats takes up 95% of your brain capacity." Lisa teases.

"What's the other 5%?" Ako questions curiously.

"Things related to our major, I would presume." Sayo jokes along and Yukina frowns.

"I beg to differ. About 70% of my knowledge is on cats. 29% is for business, and 1% is for trivial things, such as birthdays."

Lisa looks at her incredulously. " _ That's  _ what you're concerned about?"

Yukina waves her hand around. "No matter. Let's get cooking."

"Okay~."

As Lisa and Yukina set out the ingredients, Rinko and Sayo go upstairs to retrieve their things for their upcoming NFO session. Sayo brings an extension outlet for their laptop chargers and two mouses for Lisa and Yukina. Rinko brings down several packets of Hype Sauce flavored Gfuel, as per Ako's request.

"So you mix the egg into the bowl and put some salt and pepper." Lisa instructs, watching when Yukina carefully follows her movements. "Great! Now pour it into the frying pan."

"Okay. What do we do next?"

"Wait for a bit, and then we flip it!"

After a moment, Lisa flips the egg gracefully before looking at Yukina, who struggles to do the same. "Try to get the spatula underneath most of the egg and then flip it." She advises and Yukina nods. When she flips the egg, she looks at Lisa with a small smile. "You did it~. Now we just wait a bit more."

Yukina nods in understanding and soon enough, the eggs are done. They place them on a plate and then take out the sausages.

"Okay so we have to be careful because we're dealing with knives here." Lisa advises. "Take the knife and cut just a little before the midway point. Make sure you slice down all the way." Lisa says as she demonstrates the movements to Yukina, who nods. "We do this four times to make the eight legs."

Yukina tilts her head. "Seems simple enough."

"That's cause it is~. Now you try."

Yukina follows Lisa's words and smiles in satisfaction when it turns out like Lisa's. She looks at Lisa for approval, and Lisa can't help but smile warmly. Yukina's come so far after all. She went from burning instant noodles to making eggs and octopus sausages.

She probably should have started with something simple like this instead of trying to make curry from scratch like the last time she tried to teach Yukina to cook. It was a bit too complicated and very tedious for a beginner. Somehow, for a reason Lisa does not know up till this day, the pot caught on fire. Lisa mostly blames herself for getting distracted by her phone, but she's learned her lesson this time and is keeping a close eye on everything.

"It looks great! So we repeat this for all of them and just put them on the frying pan."

"That's it?"

"That's it~."

They proceed to cut up more sausages before frying them. Lisa holds back a giggle when the octopus legs open up and Yukina's eyes widen ever so slightly. She looks like a child finding her first Christmas present.

Eventually, their lunch is cooked and they stack the sausages on a plate. They also put rice in a larger bowl and bring them out to the dining table.

"Lunch is ready~." Lisa sings and the other members of the house immediately move their laptops.

"Smells great!" Ako exclaims and Lisa nods proudly.

"Yukina helped a lot too~."

Yukina flushes lightly. "I just followed what Lisa said."

"Thank you for the food!" They all say before eating. Ako snarfs down the food quickly, making Lisa giggle at her energy.

"Don't eat too fast or you'll choke." Sayo states and Ako pauses momentarily.

"Can't help it, food's too good."

"The faster you eat, the faster it will be gone."

Ako gasps. "Oh my gosh Sayo-san you're right."

Sayo chuckles at Ako's antics. "If only you were as diligent with homework as with eating."

"No fair~. Homework and food are two completely different things."

"They are." Yukina pauses to take another bite. "But I'd rather eat bitter melon than do homework."

"Don't you hate bitter melon?" Sayo points out.

"Exactly."

Lisa laughs at their preferences. "Geez, Yukina hates bitter melon, Sayo hates carrots, and Ako doesn't like eggs, bell peppers, and broccoli."

"A-And sea cucumbers." Rinko adds and Lisa looks at Ako in disbelief.

"Ako doesn't like greens and weird things, leave Ako alone~." Ako whines.

_ 'How is egg weird?'  _ Yukina quietly thinks to herself.

"Shirokane-san, do you have a certain food you don't like?" Sayo asks and Rinko nods shyly.

"C-Celery."

Lisa drinks some water. "Oh wow." Lisa reaches over to get another sausage. "I personally don't like green smoothies."

Sayo blinks in realization before chuckling. "It seems like we all have something in common."

"Almost everything we don't like is what Himari drinks to 'stay healthy'." Lisa muses. "It's the ultimate weapon against us."

"Speaking of us, I was thinking," Yukina starts and everyone looks at her, "that we should have a name for our house."

Ako's eyes widen in excitement. "Oh my gosh you mean like how Kasumi-chan's place is called Poppin' Party?"

"Exactly. Mitake-san told me that her house agreed upon the name Afterglow." Yukina responds and Lisa grins smugly. Of course she'd be inspired by Ran. "I was thinking of combining rose and camellia for the name Roselia."

Ako tilts her head. "Isn't that a Pokémon?"

Yukina falters. "It is?"

Lisa waves her hand and smiles. "That's fine~. I think Roselia is super cute!"

Yukina frowns. "I was aiming for cool."

"Ako thinks it's plenty cool!"

Sayo nods her head. "Indeed."

"I-It's fitting." Rinko agrees and Yukina nods in satisfaction.

"Roselia." Yukina tests before her lips quirk up into a small smile.

"Oh my gosh we're Roselia! Ako wants to change the WiFi name to Roselia Trap House!"

Yukina furrows her eyebrows in confusion but Sayo steps in. "We are  _ not _ a trap house." Sayo interrupts with a firm tone and Ako pouts. "There will be no illegal drug selling. Not in this household."

"It's not like we'd actually sell drugs. Boo~."

Lisa laughs at their antics. Hanging out with everyone is never boring, and the fact that Yukina wanted to come up with a name for their house makes Lisa's heart warm. It brings about a sense of unity and familiarity, as if they truly are becoming her second family.

"Anyways, let's wash the dishes so we can start playing~." Lisa points out and Ako immediately jumps out of her seat, washing her dishes so fast that Sayo gets worried she might break them.

Once the dishes are cleaned, everyone sets up their laptops and opens the NFO launcher. They make sure to plug their laptop charger in and put in their earphones. They all set the volume low enough so they can hear each other, but high enough to hear the music and effects.

"So what are we doing?" Lisa asks, sweatdropping when she sees Ako, Rinko, and Sayo's overpowered characters. She felt a bit out of place standing next to such high level players.

"We're going to do the hardest quest level 1 players can do so you can get experience faster." Sayo explains. "The three of us have some gear for your classes stored that will be very helpful, but you must be a certain level to wear it."

"The three of you are over level 150. I highly doubt we can wear that gear anytime soon." Yukina mentions and Ako nods.

"That's true, but this quest should jump you guys up a couple levels. And the rare drops from these quests are a lot better than the other ones!"

They start the side quest and both Lisa and Yukina try to catch up with the three more experienced players. They know enough about their class to know when to use certain spells and abilities. Well, Yukina just spams a bunch of spells on the enemies, but Lisa tries to heal whoever takes damage as much as she can.

"Thank you for the healing, but it doesn't really do much. I barely take enough damage as it is." Sayo says, her eyes crinkling in amusement as she watches her health bar decrease and then increase ever the slightest whenever Lisa uses her ability on her.

Lisa pouts. "I'm only level 1! Besides, I'm not just going to sit here and let you guys do all the work."

"That's kinda the point of this quest though." Ako giggles. "If the two of you did this by yourself you'd get absolutely smashed."

"Isn't it a bit too...hm," Yukina turns to Rinko, "what's that word you used?"

"Overpowered?"

Yukina nods. "Yes, overpowered if us…" Yukina frowns as the term she's thinking of is within her grasp, but she can't quite remember it.

"Noobs?" Ako supplies helpfully.

"Correct, noobs, partied with highly ranked players for easy experience?" 

"It is. That's why there's a limit as to which quests new players can do. We can also fight monsters, but the experience gained isn't worth it until you unlock the later areas. If I remember correctly, the Lake is the starting point for grinding monsters, but you need to do certain quests and be level 50 to go there." Sayo answers just as they finish the task at hand. "What level are you two now?"

"Level 6." Yukina answers and Lisa tilts her head.

"I'm only level 3."

"That's cause Yukina-san played a lil bit yesterday! She did the super easy event quest and immediately got the limited lute." Ako points out. "It's crazy. Ako's never seen that happen before."

"Maybe when...Minato-san made her account...she had a lot of luck."

"Or perhaps Minato-san is just a lucky person."

"Oh!" Lisa exclaims as she gets to the rewards page. "I got a blue item. What rarity is this again?"

Sayo blinks in surprise when Lisa gets a rare item—it's labeled rare for a reason. "White is common, light blue is uncommon, blue is rare, red is legendary, and gold is limited." She, Ako, and Rinko are currently equipped with limited equipment. "Some legendary items are better than limited ones, and older limited items eventually become outscaled by the newer ones."

"To get a rare drop...on your first quest." Rinko comments in slight awe. "Amazing."

"Geez, it's like both Lisa-nee and Yukina-san have crazy lucky accounts." Ako adds in disbelief. She herself got her first rare item after a couple of quests, and she was hours into the game too.

"Oh, right. The gear we have for you guys is limited but you can't equip it until you're like level 50." Ako continues, looking at her items before gasping. "Oh my gosh Ako forgot to use the experience boost!"

"I have some too. Does it stack?" Sayo asks and Ako shakes her head.

"That'd be too OP, but the one Ako has is the 5x boost. Time to use it!"

"OP?" Yukina asks.

"I-It's an acronym...for overpowered." Rinko replies and Yukina hums in understanding.

"This is a pretty cute item." Lisa says to herself as she equips the item she just earned. Her character no longer wears the starting white robes but a pink one.

"Alright, time to restart the quest~." Ako says cheerfully and the five go at it again.

"If I am understanding this correctly, we repeat the same quest over and over again to get experience?" Yukina questions as she uses spells on enemies and Rinko nods. "And we can also explore areas and kill the monsters there to get experience as well?"

"We call it...grinding. This quest is...the fastest for new players."

"We can work on unlocking the Lake later on." Sayo brings up. "With Udagawa-san's experience boost, we should get the two of you to level 50 in no time. But when you reach level 75, it is a very long grind."

"It's a good thing we're friends with such high level players, huh Yukina." Lisa comments, a bit happy to see that her healing is just a little bit better. "This is kinda fun though. I've never been into gaming, but I can see myself playing this more."

"And since we're called Roselia, we can start our own guild!" Ako claims happily as she kills an enemy before resurrecting it to fight for them. "Rinrin and I always jumped from guild to guild for the guild events so it's gonna be super cool that we'll finally be in one permanently!"

"I agree." Sayo agrees as she provokes an enemy so Ako and Rinko can kill it with ease. "Being in a smaller guild is not ideal for guild events, but I don't mind as long it's with you guys."

"Aw, Sayo, you're being so sweet today~." Lisa coos as she bumps shoulders with her, making Sayo blush lightly. "If you say any more, I might just get diabetes~."

"Gross." Yukina gags, prompting Lisa to turn towards her with a knowing grin. "Oh no. Don't you dare."

"What?" Lisa asks innocently.

"I know what you're going to say."

"Say what?" Lisa grins widely when Yukina scowls at her. "Aw, did you think I was going to call you darling honey~?"

"Ew."

"Aw, don't be like that sugar pie~."

"You've called me that already."

"Whatever you say, flour pie~."

Yukina drops her hands on the table and Lisa laughs when she gives her a completely baffled look. "What the hell even is a flour pie?"

"Well you said I called you sugar pie already~."

"That didn't mean that I wanted you to come up with another absurd nickname."

Everyone laughs at Yukina's reaction before resuming the grind. Before Lisa knows it, three hours pass by. She blinks with surprise, not realizing how much time has passed. She glances at her character level and sees that she's almost level 40.

"Should we take a small break?" Lisa asks and the four look up. "It's been three hours already."

"Three hours is nothing~." Ako says before showing off her packs of Gfuel. "These babies will keep you up for at least 5 hours."

"Hype sauce?" Sayo wonders aloud. "That sounds vaguely inappropriate."

Ako gasps as if Sayo said something scandalous and covers Rinko's ears. "Don't you dare call Hype Sauce inappropriate! It's a dope flavor and Ako will not let Rinko hear your slander."

"You and your energy drinks." Lisa remarks with a giggle. "I don't know about you, but I need to take a break." Lisa gets up and stretches lightly. "If I sit any longer, I won't be able to feel anything~."

"Can you make cookies?" Yukina asks and Lisa snickers.

"I really shouldn't be enabling you like this, but sure~." Lisa responds as she walks to Yukina and sits on her. "But I'll only do it if you call me honey~."

Yukina makes a disgusted face as she tries to push her off. "Gross. Get off. You're heavy."

Lisa gasps in mock hurt and pokes her cheek hard. "That's mean. Are you calling me fat?"

"Lisa-nee isn't fat!" Ako defends as she takes her hands off of Rinko's ears. "She's just thicc."

Yukina looks at her incredulously and Rinko giggles quietly. "What?"

"She's thicc."

"Thick?"

"No, thicc."

"That's what I'm saying. Thick."

"No no no, Yukina-san you're saying it wrong.  _ Thicc _ ."

Yukina turns to Sayo with such a confused face that Sayo can't help but chuckle. "What am I saying wrong?"

"You're asking the wrong person." Sayo simply replies before looking back at her screen. 

She's not sure why, but she feels a bit uncomfortable when she sees how cozy Lisa is on Yukina's lap. She repeatedly tells herself that it's not jealousy. Why should she be jealous when Yukina obviously has a crush on Ran? And when they were talking about Lisa's ideal type the other day, it seemed like she was hinting that she was her ideal type.

Sayo mentally shakes her head. She shouldn't overthink things. She should just focus on spending time with her friends, not how soft and comfortable it would feel if Lisa were the one on her lap.

Shit. 

Sayo tries her best to get rid of the thought, but she can't deny that Lisa being on top of her is very appealing. 

For some reason.

Thankfully, Lisa gets off of Yukina's lap and heads towards the kitchen. "I'm going to go make the cookies~. I'll be back in a bit."

When Lisa leaves, Sayo takes a moment to clear her head. She clicks around on her laptop, trying to busy herself with NFO as Ako, Rinko, and Yukina talk about her class type. Yukina said they would talk about her feelings some time, and Sayo dreads the meeting.

She isn't sure what she feels about Lisa. She's never had a friend as openly caring and affectionate as her, so she assumes it's because of her social inexperience. Not to mention, she's never had a friend as attractive as her. Sure, she's friends with Yukina, but Yukina doesn't exude such feminine qualities. Not like Lisa or her ex-girlfriend.

Sayo hums thoughtfully as she thinks about Chisato. What they had was the outcome of (rather uncharacteristically) being pulled into the trends of high school romance on top of having no one else to trust but each other. Their relationship transpired because they were two confused teenagers who not only depended on each other, but also wanted to live their high school life to the fullest before facing the harsh reality of college and the outside world. 

Chisato was there for Sayo when things were difficult with Hina, and Sayo was there for Chisato when she was having trouble with Kaoru. And whenever they were stressed, they took it out on each other, whether it be in the form of supportive words or heated touches.

Despite this, Sayo doesn't regret it. Even though they broke up two years ago, they are still good friends, and Sayo is rather fond of Chisato. Chisato may be dating Kaoru now, but Sayo feels no ill-will. In fact, she's even become friends with Kaoru despite her...eccentric behavior. 

Sayo gets pulled out of her thoughts when Ako busts out three water bottles. She carefully opens and pours the Hype Sauce flavored Gfuel powder into them. When the bottle cap is tight and secure, she vigorously shakes two while Rinko shakes the other. 

When Ako makes eye contact with Sayo, she asks, "Want some Sayo-san? Ako's got a bottle for you right here."

Sayo chuckles at Ako's grin. "Sure." Sayo finishes her now cold coffee and doesn't think about the consequences of taking in even more caffeine. "I feel like it may be too early for energy drinks."

"That's ok, we can just drink more after three hours!" Ako exclaims with a big grin and Sayo shakes her head with both amusement and exasperation. She can now see why Lisa says Ako has too much energy sometimes.

"I'm curious as to how this Hype Sauce tastes." Yukina remarks and Ako beams.

"I can get...one for Minato-san." Rinko speaks up and Ako smiles widely.

"Thanks Rinrin!"

"S-Should I get one for...Imai-san as well?"

"Yeah!"

Rinko nods and gets up. "I-I'll be right back."

"Sorry bout that Yukina-san. Ako didn't think you would want some." Ako apologizes with a sheepish grin. She hands Sayo the shaken bottle, who takes it and squints at it. "Don't worry, it's not weird tasting~."

"That doesn't make me any less suspicious." Sayo lightly jokes before opening it and taking a sip. "Why does it taste like powder?"

Ako blinks. "That's kinda how it is but Ako got used to it. But Ako really likes Gfuel because of all the different flavors!"

Sayo hums as she takes another sip. "This tastes very familiar." When Ako gives her an expectant look, she guesses, "Is it some sort of fruit mixed with something?"

"Almost! Ako wants Yukina-san to try too so here, take mine." Ako gives Yukina her bottle and Yukina unscrews the cap. She takes a sip and Ako fidgets in anticipation. "So?"

"Sayo is right." Yukina takes another sip. "It is powdery, and I do taste something fruity with a hint of something sour."

"Do you two give up?" Ako questions and Yukina shrugs, looking at Sayo. Sayo nods, and Ako continues, "It's raspberry lemonade!"

"Ah." Sayo simply says and Ako pouts at her indifferent reaction. "I never would have guessed correctly."

"Me either."

"The two of you have no taste~." Ako sticks her tongue out at them, making the two chuckle. Ako's lighthearted childishness is somehow refreshing to them. Perhaps it's because they don't really associate with people like her, so it's nice to be around someone playfully happy.

Rinko comes down with the two bottles and Ako quickly gets to adding water to mix with the Gfuel powder. By the time she's done shaking like a madman, Lisa comes back with a plate of cookies and a confused look.

"What's going on here?"

"Yukina-san and Sayo-san are trying out Gfuel! Do you wanna try Lisa-nee?" Ako asks and Lisa shrugs.

"Sure. It's Saturday and I caught up with my schoolwork, so I don't mind."

"Awesome!"

Ako immediately gets to making more Gfuel. The others start taking cookies off of the plate and Lisa watches with amusement when Yukina and Sayo look satisfied.

"Amazing like always." Yukina comments and Lisa almost snorts.

"Are you Ran now?" Lisa teases, prompting Yukina to blush.

"Minato-san is correct." Sayo adds and shoots Lisa a small smile. "I don't know how you make such wonderful cookies, Imai-san. Perhaps I am not paying enough attention when we make cookies together."

Lisa has received many compliments in her life but whenever Sayo gives her one, it makes her feel warm inside, perhaps even special. Maybe it's because Sayo looks at her with such genuinity whenever she praises her. 

"You're such a charmer." Lisa deflects in a way she uses when she flirts with people at parties. She gives her a teasing smile and flutters her eyelashes, feeling giddy when Sayo's face turns red. "If you're not paying attention to the cookies, I wonder what you're paying attention to~."

Sayo instantly averts her eyes and coughs. Yukina almost feels bad for her—anyone Lisa flirts with should have the strongest of wills and confidence after all. She exudes such raw feminine power that Yukina knows she would be affected if she were to be the object of her attention. But Lisa is not only her cherished best friend, but also her family—she's like the sister she never had. She's one of the few lucky people where Lisa's flirting has no effect on her.

"Oo~, is Sayo-san checking out Lisa-nee's thiccity thiccness?" Ako plays along and Sayo blushes harder.

"Again, how the hell are you saying thick like that? What does that even mean?" Yukina asks incredulously and Ako snickers.

"A master never reveals her secrets~." Ako says proudly as she puffs out her chest. 

Rinko giggles quietly as she drinks some Gfuel, content with just watching her friends talk. She truly is glad to have met everyone. She first met Ako through NFO and they decided to speak on Discord in order to coordinate better. When Ako found out that they lived in the same city, she insisted they meet up in real life. It took all of Rinko's courage to agree, and she's so happy that she did.

They immediately hit it off due to their love of NFO, and Rinko found herself gradually falling for Ako. No one else was as supportive as her, and she tried her best to help Rinko with her confidence and shyness issues. Not to mention, Rinko started trying out new things because Ako gave her the push to. It was hard not to fall in love with someone like her.

And then Lisa accidentally ran into her on campus one time. Being the friendly person she is, she insisted she treat Rinko out as an apology. She quickly noticed that she was shy and tried her best not to overwhelm her, which gave Rinko the determination to befriend her. The only other person she met that was considerate enough of her shyness was Ako, and since they quickly became best friends, Rinko knew it would be the same with Lisa. 

One day, Lisa asked if she could bring her best friend along. Yukina showed up and despite being scared of her at first, she surprisingly got along well with her. The four of them would hang out at coffee shops and restaurants, talking about their day as well as the recent happenings of the people they all knew, which was a surprising amount. To think that both Lisa and Yukina knew Ako's older sister as well as Kanon and Aya.

And then she finally met Sayo, who is into NFO as much as her. It was much easier to become friends with Sayo because they both shared an interest in NFO. Despite this, she was a bit intimidated when they first met, but she soon realized that Sayo is similar to Yukina. They were both serious and aloof, and yet they both were kind in their own special way. Just like with Ako and Lisa, if Rinko can be friends with Yukina, then she can definitely be friends with Sayo.

At first, she was really scared of college, but she got to meet many kind and thoughtful people. Slowly but surely, she started getting more comfortable with social activities and public speaking. Now, she wakes up with almost little to no anxiety. Knowing that these precious people will be here when she comes home makes all the painful moments of lecture and labs go away.

"Shall we start...playing again?" Rinko brings up when the cookies are almost gone. She watches as Ako takes the last dog-shaped cookie and softly giggles when Sayo frowns. It's fun to observe the others when they are in the midst of eating cookies. Something about Lisa's cookies let their guards down.

"Let's go!" Ako cheers before chugging the rest of her Gfuel. She makes a face. "Oof. Hype Sauce and cookies do not mix well."

Lisa giggles at her antics. "It  _ is _ raspberry lemonade~."

The five resume the grind once again. Sayo, Ako, and Rinko give Lisa and Yukina helpful pointers as they progress further. Like it was mentioned earlier, both of Lisa and Yukina's accounts seem to be lucky considering the amount of rare drops they seem to get. And soon, the only noises heard from the house are rapid clicks and taps as well as the coordinated communications between the members of Roselia.

* * *

It's weird. Lisa feels wide awake but it's already been about six hours since she drank the Gfuel Ako gave her. Perhaps she should ask the baby of the house for more when midterms and finals season hits. But when said baby's stomach growls, Lisa takes that as a sign that she should start making dinner.

"It's already 8pm?" Yukina asks in disbelief. "I'm not feeling tired at all."

Ako picks up a packet and stares at nothing in particular. "That's the power of Gfuel!" She advertises and Rinko giggles, used to her girlfriend's antics.

_ 'What the hell is she looking at?' _ Yukina thinks to herself but doesn't bring it up. She doesn't know if she can handle Ako's cryptic response.

"Despite its powdery taste, it is an adequate energy drink." Sayo comments and Lisa nods in agreement.

"I was just thinking about using this instead of coffee for exams! I usually crash after a couple of hours if I don't drink another cup of coffee." Lisa adds.

"S-Sometimes I feel...sleepy after I drink...coffee." Rinko comments, giggling when Ako pulls her into a side hug. "Ako-chan showed me...Gfuel and I think it...works better."

"I still like the taste of coffee though." Sayo says and chuckles when Yukina squints at her.

"Too bitter."

"And yours is too sweet."

"Alright, alright~. No fighting in the house please." Lisa interjects jokingly. "How do you guys feel about hamburg steak for dinner?"

"Ako's so down!" Ako exclaims energetically. She's practically jumping in her seat, and Lisa knows it's because the energy drink is doing it's job all too well. Meanwhile, the other members of the house nod their heads in agreement.

"H-Hamburg steak...sounds great." Rinko adds softly. "Do you need help?"

Lisa opens her mouth to agree but Sayo beats her to the punch. "I can help this time." Lisa and Rinko look at her in surprise so she crosses her arms, her face tinged a faint pink. "I've only ever helped you with baking so far."

Lisa smiles warmly at Sayo's initiative. "Okay~. I really appreciate the help!" Lisa stands up and Sayo follows her into the kitchen. "Do you know how to make it?"

"Yes. Hina loves hamburg steak and strong-armed me into learning how to make it during our first year here." Perhaps in the past, Sayo would say this with some disdain, but now she just chuckles. "She got tired of instant noodles even after adding eggs and other ingredients to make it taste better."

Lisa giggles at that. "That sounds just like her." She starts taking out the necessary ingredients and the two work together in perfect motion. It's a good thing Lisa went grocery shopping a couple days ago. She knows Ako eats a lot, so grocery shopping is a lot more expensive now that she needs ingredients for 6 people (because Ako counts as 2), but splitting the receipt 5 ways helps tremendously.

"So," Lisa starts as she mixes the meat with her hands, "I never got to know your ideal type." Sayo's hand freezes above the rice cooker, interrupted from her task of making rice by Lisa's sudden comment. "I mean, Ako and Rinko are dating and it's super obvious Yukina is into Ran. We talked about my ideal type last night, but I never got to hear yours so I guess I'm a bit curious."

Sayo inhales quietly when her heart races. Why is her heart beating so fast? Lisa is just a good friend, and she's pretty sure girls usually talk about their ideal types when they are close enough to.

"I suppose it's only fair." Sayo responds after a moment. She leans against the counter and hums thoughtfully. "Like you said before, kindness and consideration are both important factors. I would like it if she were supportive of my interests and hobbies—she doesn't necessarily need to side with me on them as long as she accepts that it's part of who I am."

She thinks of all the times that Lisa actually paid attention to her talking about NFO. She seemed to be genuinely interested and asked questions for clarification. Usually, people would just nod along if they weren't into the topic at hand, but Lisa genuinely listened to her despite not being a gamer.

And as Sayo thinks about what to say, she recalls the time they went out for grocery shopping. A child got lost and Sayo tried to help the little girl as best as she could, but she was frightened of her. It was only when Lisa bent down and softly asked for her name that she stopped crying.

Sayo has never been good with kids. She's not even good with her fellow college students. Her serious and cold expression is enough to scare other people away. It doesn't help that she's usually stoic with people she's not close to. As a result, she's always wanted to be with someone who didn't care about her looks and if possible, was good with kids. For the future, of course. She's looking for something serious after all.

"You know that I tend to scare people off, and many are intimidated at first glance with me." Sayo continues as she helps Lisa shape the meat. "So I suppose patience is another trait that I would prefer she would have. Sometimes, Hina tells me that I look angry or annoyed when I'm just being normal."

"She, huh." Lisa comments as she heats up the frying pan and Sayo blushes.

"Yes." Sayo clears her throat. "While I do find men physically attractive, I cannot find myself being romantically involved with one."

Lisa hums. "Well, everyone's got preferences."

Sayo quietly takes in a breath to prepare herself. "And what about you?" Sayo asks as casually as she could.

"Hm~, I don't really mind." Lisa answers truthfully. "Although I've dated more women than men, so I guess you can say I have a preference~."

Sayo's heart starts beating faster and she's slowly starting to realize why. But she brushes the feeling off in order to make most of the moment she has with Lisa. If she becomes self-conscious now, then she's definitely going to act unnatural. 

"Is that so?" Sayo says and Lisa nods. They proceed to cook the steaks next to each other in different pans.

"Yep! It's kinda embarrassing actually." Lisa continues with a sheepish smile. "None of my relationships worked out well enough to pass three weeks." Lisa sighs as she recounts her past. "Not to mention, two of my exes only wanted to date me for sex." Sayo's fist curls up and tightens into a ball. "And one of them was super controlling too. She got jealous of me hanging out with Yukina but like, Yukina's my best friend, you know? I'm obviously not gonna cheat on her with Yukina."

"That's not right." Sayo states angrily and Lisa looks at her in surprise. "Pretending to be genuinely interested just for sex is pathetic. People have feelings, and I hate when others lie for selfish reasons." Sayo's grip on the spatula tightens as she flips the steaks. "You are your own person, Imai-san. You should be able to hang out with whoever you want even if you are taken. Trust and loyalty are important, and if your partner doesn't trust you then they don't deserve you."

"Sayo…" Lisa whispers in shock. She's never seen her angry before, but Lisa knows it's for a good reason. That's always how it is with Sayo.

"Those people are despicable." Sayo spats out and freezes when Lisa places a hand on her shoulder. "I apologize, Imai-san. My feelings got the better of me."

"It's fine, you have nothing to apologize for. Everything you said is true." Lisa insists, giving Sayo a concerned look. "Is everything alright?"

Sayo sighs deeply, relaxing when Lisa squeezes her shoulder comfortingly. "Hina went through something similar in the past. We...drifted apart in high school but we started to patch our relationship up during our last year." She keeps her eyes on the frying pan, unaware of how intense Lisa's look is. "So when one day she came up to me, crying over how she found out her girlfriend was only interested in her because of sex, I got mad. Really mad. " Sayo frowns as she remembers the scene. "I tend not to get angry, but the way she treated Hina made me furious. I went to have a rather...unpleasant talk with her, and if Shirasagi-san wasn't there to calm the both of us down things would have escalated quickly."

"I'm sorry you had to deal with that." Lisa responds softly, leaning closer as a way of showing support. "It's really unfortunate that there are people out there like that, but I like to think of going through such hardships as a way of growing stronger." Lisa thinks of a way to lighten the mood and adds, "Kinda like character development."

Sayo lets out a chuckle at that, and the tension slowly goes away. "Thank you." They both remember to flip the steaks before one side gets too burnt. Sayo turns to look at Lisa and softly continues, "You're a good person, Imai-san. You don't deserve such treatment from horrible people."

Lisa's eyes widen at the sincerely soft look Sayo is giving her. She feels compelled to lean in but crushes the feeling. Instead, she opts to duck her head and give Sayo a hug, mumbling, "You're too kind, Sayo." She hugs her tighter. "I'm really glad to be friends with you."

The aroma of cooked hamburg steaks quickly breaks the moment however, so Lisa pulls away to flip the food again. She doesn't see the slightly dejected look on Sayo's face, and Sayo is glad she is too distracted to. They've only known each other for a little over a month, and she doesn't want Lisa to notice when she doesn't know if her own feelings are truly serious.

"I share the same sentiment." Sayo decides to respond as she watches the food slowly cook.

"You know, I'm kind of curious about something." Lisa wonders aloud and Sayo looks at her expectantly. "Well, sorry if I'm intruding on your privacy, but I kinda heard that you used to date Chisato."

Sayo blinks at the information. She didn't expect Lisa to know about that. "Indeed I did." Sayo clears her throat. "May I ask how you know?"

"Aya told me, and she heard from Kanon." Lisa answers sheepishly. "Himari also probably knows, but you don't need to worry! The three of us only gossip with each other."

"That's fine. I don't mind if others knew." Sayo admits as she tucks a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "I assume that you know that we went to high school together." Lisa nods, so Sayo continues, "Our second year was a rather complicated time for Shirasagi-san and I. She started getting more roles and my relationship with Hina was at its lowest point. It didn't help that I spent most of my time taking my studies seriously." Sayo sighs as she recalls how stressful high school was. "I remember the day that Shirasagi-san ran into Seta-san after not seeing her for years. Apparently, many things were different about Seta-san that irked Shirasagi-san."

"We were both...frustrated with many things. Many others were afraid to become friends with us because of our appearances, and that led us to each other. We eventually became close enough to talk about our problems." Sayo continues before pausing, a bit distracted by the delicious smell of hamburg steaks. "During our last year of high school, people were getting together left and right. I know it's very unusual to hear me say that we got pulled into the trend, but we were stressed and had no one else but each other. Seeing others happy together had us feeling slightly jealous."

"So we decided to date. I will admit that at some point, we both liked each other. Of course, we were young and foolish, but we learned many different things together. Being teenagers, we participated in some...rather scandalous activities." Sayo blushes when Lisa giggles.

"Do you regret it? You know, going out with a close friend?" Lisa questions curiously and Sayo shakes her head.

"Like I said earlier, Shirasagi-san taught me many things that I am grateful for." Sayo ignores Lisa when she raises an eyebrow in a teasing manner and continues, "I don't regret being with her. Our relationship changed me for the better. Even if I knew we would break up, I would still choose to get together with her." Sayo pauses for a moment and Lisa stays quiet in awe when she sees the unbearably soft expression on Sayo's face. "We made a lot of good memories together, and I'm really glad for those experiences."

"I expected our breakup to leave some awkward feelings or even end our friendship, but it surprisingly didn't turn out that way. Perhaps it's because our relationship wasn't..." Sayo falters as she thinks of an applicable word, "emotionally serious, is how I would put it."

"That's good~. I've never had to deal with having to drift apart from a close friend, but I imagine that it would be unpleasant." Lisa shudders at the thought of not being friends with Yukina. But then she glances at the food to check if it's done and jolts into action when it is. "The food's cooked!"

They proceed to take the steaks and place them on five plates, making sure to add some sauce left on the pan on each one.

"Thanks for sharing that with me." Lisa says with a warm smile.

Sayo shakes her head. "It's fine. I don't mind."

"But you still didn't have to," Lisa insists and gives Sayo a look so gentle and happy that her stomach does a backflip, "so I'm really glad you told me."

Lisa almost tells Sayo that she feels like she's getting closer to her, but decides to keep the thought to herself. Maybe it's because it goes without saying that the distance between them is getting smaller, or maybe it's because she doesn't want to say that only for it to be one-sided on her part. Regardless of the reason, Lisa looks back at the plates and quickly realizes that she and Sayo don't have enough hands.

"Perhaps we should get help?" Sayo suggests as she fills a large bowl with rice and Lisa nods.

"Ako~. Can you help us bring the food over?" Lisa calls out and Ako immediately bounds over.

"Ohmygosh, that smells so good!" Ako exclaims as she carefully takes two plates. "Ako can't wait~."

They move their laptops so they can have space on the table for the food. As always, Yukina praises the food and Ako is careful to contain her noises of delight. As soon as they are finished, they wash the dishes and get right back to the grind.

However, they end the session after two more hours. Not only does Ako need to do her homework, but Yukina is also starting to crash from the Gfuel. By the time that they stop playing, both Lisa and Yukina's levels are within the 60's range and their characters have decent gear. Rinko mentions how fun it was to play with everyone, so Lisa makes the effort to look into everyone's schedule and assign a day when they can all play together.

When Yukina quietly goes back to her room, Lisa looks at Sayo with concern. "I should probably check up on her." Lisa says and Sayo nods. 

"I would come along, but I must admit that I'm not the best person for this type of situation." Sayo confides and Lisa smiles gently.

"That's fine. Your support is all she needs."

"I hope so."

Lisa proceeds to go upstairs and knocks on Yukina's door. "Come in." She hears Yukina call from inside.

Lisa opens the door and gently shuts it behind her. She sees Yukina pacing back and forth, clearly anxious about her upcoming study session with Ran from the way she's gripping her favorite Siamese cat plushie, Oreo, tightly.

"What's wrong?" Lisa asks gently and Yukina sits down on her bed, sighing deeply as she buries her face in the stuffed toy.

"What if I mess up tomorrow?" Yukina says with a frown, her voice muffled because of Oreo. "What if I make a fool of myself?"

Lisa sits down next to her and wraps her arm around her shoulder. "Don't worry, Yukina. Everything will be fine. Besides, even if you show a part of yourself that you think is embarrassing, I know Ran won't mind."

"What makes you think that?"

"Ran isn't the type of person who judges others. I'm sure she's nervous too." Lisa answers with a small smile. "And the two of you will be studying here. Just give me or Sayo a quick text if you feel the need to. We have your back."

Yukina takes in another deep breath before letting it out. "Thank you, Lisa. You're always so patient with me." She leans into the side hug and rests her head under Lisa's chin. "You've always been there for me."

"And I won't ever stop. No matter what." Lisa responds gently. They stay like that for a moment before Yukina pulls away, her usual stoic expression looking a bit tired but less nervous. "Gonna get ready for tomorrow?"

"Indeed." Yukina says as she and Lisa get up. She yawns before continuing, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight~."

Lisa leaves her room and goes to the bathroom, not surprised to see Sayo there. But she is surprised at the concerned look on her face.

"How is she?" Sayo asks and Lisa giggles.

"She's nervous."

"I assume she's feeling better though."

"Of course~." Lisa winks at Sayo. "Nothing like a good ol' comfort session."

Sayo chuckles before starting to wash her face. The two go through their usual routine as fast as they can since they start to feel the aftereffects of the energy drink crashing down on them.

"It was nice to spend time with everyone today." Lisa comments once she's done brushing her teeth.

"It really was." Sayo agrees, blinking rapidly in an effort to stay awake. "I am still a bit concerned about Minato-san for tomorrow."

"I have faith that everything's going to go well." Lisa responds before yawning. "I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"

"If you believe, then I guess I don't have a reason not to." Sayo replies before sending Lisa one last smile. "Goodnight, Imai-san."

"Goodnight~."

The two leave the bathroom and enter their rooms, eagerly awaiting the next day. Lisa knows that both Yukina and Ran are pretty much disaster lesbians, but she sticks to her belief that everything will turn out fine. And with Sayo by her side, she knows she will be able to give the two a push if needed.

The amount of hours Lisa spent playing on top of crashing from Gfuel prompts Lisa to sleep soundly that night, unaware of just how tomorrow will be. But Lisa knows everything will work out.

After all, what's the worst that could happen?


End file.
